Shadow Killer
by MikoNoNyte
Summary: You Are Cordially Invited ... Wedding and Lemon! Read the WARNINGS!
1. Making Up For Lost Time

Chapter 1: Making Up For Lost Time

I don't own Shadow Hearts, Alice Elliot or Yuri Hyuga, damn it all!

Nemeton Monastery, outside of Aberystwyth, stood on a craggy cliff overlooking the far western shores of Wales; below, the Irish Sea crashed and pounded its eternal ire against the cliff wall.  The monastery's imposing structure, built up over the centuries, had seen pagan, priest and prisoner.  In its last incarnation the buildings, constructed on an ancient pagan worship site, had gone from a prison to become a home for Patrick Haywood and his wife Elaine and degenerated into a carnal pit of torture and murder.  Finally the history of Nemeton came to an end with a devastating fire that destroyed the church, leaving only wrack and ruin as a legacy.  The spirits of this vitiated holy place had been exorcised and the greater ones sealed over a decade ago, but a few lingered on, developing a thirst and hunger for the living.  Thus when the newcomers arrived at the main underground entrance, they were met with an assortment of foes.  

            Yuri Hyuga, Harmonixer and Fusionist, cursed and grumbled as he methodically eliminated each dead or cursed spirit that attacked his small party.  Neither of his companions was equipped to handle either the strength of these foes or their magic.  Darkness class magicks, Light class magicks; both were used nearly exclusively against him.  Being Darkness class he had his vulnerabilities, but as he was also a fusionist he didn't worry, however his young companion Halley, as a young Air class warlock was not strong enough to resist the negative energies used by the creatures.  That is where Alice came in.  Alice was a Light class Exorcist but was barely strong enough to handle what came at her, however she did have the magickal ability to resuscitate the recently demised; a handy skill in this line of work!

            They methodically checked each cavern opening and narrow corridor that presented itself; they knew that the warlock Albert Simon and his prisoner, Koudelka Iasant, were somewhere ahead in the underground remains of Nemeton, but the exact location was unknown.  Moreover they discovered that magickal seals had been placed that they had to undo in order to progress further into the ruins.  This frustrated Yuri no end as his patience was nonexistent.  But both Alice and Halley patiently worked to decipher the cryptic notes left by Koudelka almost fifteen years before, in order to open the way ahead.  One such seal puzzled them both, a scarlet seal set on a  natural bowl of boiling water; it was Yuri's idle scraping of the dirt covered floor that gave Alice the clue they needed to open it.  Yuri received for his unknowing inspiration a small black stone.  Alice had refused to touch it, its mere presence disturbing her with its negative energies.  But Yuri merely shrugged and put it in his trench coat pocket.  That stone would later gain him a powerful fusion monster.  But that would be after they fought Albert Simon.  And Simon himself would not be an easy win; he was also of Darkness class, and a powerful warlock who had been around this world for nearly 700 years.  Furthermore he had plans to wipe out all life on earth, to "remake this vile world in God's image".  He had to be stopped and Yuri and his friends were there to do just that.  

            The combat did not go as they had expected.   Their initial goal of freeing Halley's mother Koudelka succeeded.  However in the combat to stop Simon, the magickal energies released fueled a signaling device that Albert had been trying to raise with Koudelka's unwilling assistance:  The Float, Neameeto.  This ancient temple or "float" as Simon called it, would signal a God from the Outer Reaches; a God of Judgment on all mankind and humanity's ultimate destruction.  And with a taunting laugh, the warlock Simon issued his ultimatum: seven days until God descends to Earth; seven days to live.

            However, Yuri and his companions put paid to Simon's plans.  Yuri put an end to Simon himself, killing the Cardinal turned warlock with his own hands, and then turned to face the Meta-god that Simon had summoned.  That threat too they removed.  Bloodstained, tattered and exhausted, the troupe returned to Earth and a return to their abandoned lives.  A little over a year had passed since their adventure had begun and they were anxious to return to whatever paths they were traveling; all except Yuri.

            He followed Alice.  He had protected and cherished her for the past year, not daring to hope that she had any feelings for him.  True, he had admitted his juvenile feelings to the young exorcist while they were at Nemeton, but she had not responded. However she did ask him to return to Zurich with her to meet her mother.  He thought at first it was just that, meeting the surviving parent, but as they boarded the ferry to France he took matters into his own hands.

            The wind was blowing stiffly in the channel and Yuri, never one for water crossings, was hanging over the side of the ferry threatening the fish with his lunch.  Alice sat in a deck chair behind him, watching him sway too and fro with the ship and wondering silently to herself how long it would be before Yuri got his sea legs.  So far, in crossing the channel twice it hadn't happened.  But she remembered he hadn't faired well in crossing the Yellow Sea in China either.  

            "Yuri, why don't you lie down; you might feel better."

            Yuri groaned and gurgled in response, but turned around, wiping his mouth with his sleeve.

            "I'll be all right; nothing left now," he said with a sheepish grin.  

            "I told you not to eat kippers before we sailed," Alice said with a grin.  "But you wouldn't listen."

            Yuri chuckled.  "Yeah, well you know me."

            "Uh-huh," Alice said.  "Stubborn."  Alice's sharp comment was mitigated by her warm smile.  "Well, come sit by me at least; you'll still be close to the railing."

            Yuri grinned affably before joining her on a deck chair.

            "Sorry, Alice.  I listen next time, all right?" Yuri offered, thick traces of his Russian accent making itself heard.

            Alice nodded. 

            "Actually, there is something I wanna ask you, since we're on the way to meet your mama," Yuri started, looking askance at the beautiful girl sitting next to him.  He liked being close to Alice but often found her proximity a major bodily distraction.

            "What is that, Yuri?"  Alice looked up at her friend and could not help smiling again; his hair had grown longer these past few weeks and now looked like a messy brown mop; and his eyes which, tending toward amber most of the time and occasionally changing to reddish black - but mostly when he used his fusion ability - were now looking at the deck while his hands, scarred and bruised from fighting, fretted with a loose thread on his trench coat.

            "Well, I kinda wanted to …" he looked up to see Alice's ice-blue eyes staring at him and his knees got weak.  'Good thing I'm sittin' down,' he thought.  "Well, it's just that …" the soft lips that resembled a flower bud opened and he felt his heart skip a beat before settling into a rapid tattoo.  'Oh God, I can't do this,' he turned away and looked out at the ocean swells of the channel and felt queasy.  'No, I can't look there either, damn!'  Finally he looked up at the lady and offered a lopsided grin.

            "I'm not very good at this stuff," he said, and reached into the pocket of his trench coat and pulled out a small paper wrapped box.  "If you'll have this …" he dropped it into Alice's hands.

            Alice looked down at the small box.  Slowly she opened it and gasped when the gray light of day reflected on a small diamond ring.

            "Yuri!" 

            "Yeah, I know it's not much; I couldn't get a bigger one … I spent all my money on supplies for the trip to the Float.  But … well, if it's okay with you, I'd like to give it to you, 'cause …" his voice faded to soft mumbling.

            Alice removed the ring and held it in her hand, looking from it to Yuri who had once more bowed his head.  

            "Yuri, this is … this is an engagement ring!"

            "Yeah, I know," he said, voice muffled.  "The clerk tol' me."

            Alice swallowed, thinking how best to handle this; Yuri was not one to make speeches, could barely articulate his feelings at the best of times.  This must be killing him!  Finally she took one of his hands and placed the ring in it, giving it back to him.

            Yuri looked down at the tiny thing, his heart lurching in his chest.

            "Yuri … I – I think it would be better if …"

            "You don't want it, do you!" he said suddenly.

            "No, it's not that!" Alice said quickly, forestalling an outburst.  "I just think it would be better if _you_ put it on my finger," and she offered her left hand, fingers open to accept the ring.

            Yuri looked at the hand, then down to the ring and then chuckled.  "I'm so stupid sometimes!" he laughed and then placed the ring on her finger.

            "Will ya marry me, Alice?" he finally asked.

            For her part, Alice was grinning, her eyes sparkling with the first happiness she had felt since before her father's murder over a year ago.

            "Yes, Yuri.  I will."

            The rest of the trip to France was lost for Yuri; he spent it alternately staring at Alice and staring at his hands.  He'd never been this nervous or excited before.  He'd actually asked her to marry him; and she had said yes!  His heart raced and his breathing sometimes stopped altogether until he'd mentally start and order himself to breath.  Altogether it was a wonder he survived to dock at La Havre.

            Alice took their paltry baggage, Yuri's small satchel and her carpet bag, and led the way to the train station, Yuri staggering behind her, just grateful to be on dry land.  Once aboard Yuri, apologizing for everything he had never done stretched out on the seat and fell sound asleep.  Alice sat next to him, her shoulder acting as a pillow for Yuri's head, and read from her book.

            When they arrived at Rouen they quickly transferred trains and were on their way to Paris.  Yuri grumbled a little over the precipitousness of the train travel, but was placated when Alice reminded him they would have a full day to wander Paris before their train departed for Zurich.  As the train pulled out of Rouen, Yuri plied Alice with questions about Paris; where to eat, where to sight-see, where to walk hand in hand and smooch.  Alice giggled, especially over Yuri's desire to 'neck', but promised they would visit some lovely spots before their train left. 

            "Good, 'cause I need to stake my claim before we get to your mama's, 'cause I'm sure she won't let me once we're there," he said with his usual lopsided grin.  Alice frowned at the 'staked claim' comment but let it slide, knowing Yuri's command of English was little better than a ten year old, curse words not-with-standing.  It had been a miracle of cooperation that the group had ever understood each other!  Fortunately they all shared at least one language in common and Margarete and Yuri could often be heard nattering in Russian or Japanese.  Alice was glad Margarete had been such a good friend to Yuri, sharing closeness with the young fusionist that must have made their long trip from China a blessing instead of a curse.  Alice had often stomped her feet in frustration trying to get a point across to Yuri, who just could not or would not understand.  She knew quite well he wasn't as stupid as he pretended to be, but often found his real stupidity endearing.  

            Finally the train pulled into Paris, and Alice jostled Yuri awake from his second nap.  He mumbled an expletive, realized slowly where he was and apologized for the swear word.  Alice ignored the whole thing, well used to the fact that, as Yuri admitted, he was not a morning person.  Instead she snagged the baggage and headed off the train, letting Yuri follow at his own speed.  

            The morning was well along and the sky, although a bit hazy, was still clear and beautiful.  Paris in early fall was just as beautiful as in the spring and Alice sniffed the air, catching the scents of flowers, new-cut grass and confections. Yuri joined her and she handed the bags to him and started off at a quick walk.

            "Hey!  Why so fast?" Yuri asked, fumbling with the bags.

            "It smells heavenly and I want some.  Come on!"  Alice was out of the station and half way down the block before Yuri could catch up with her.

            "What is so damned important, woman?" he growled but when Alice smacked him with the back of her hand he relented.  "Okay, what is so important, Alice?" he said again.

            "Confections.  I smell confections and coffee.  I have dreamed of them since China," the diminutive exorcist said with a nearly rapturous expression on her face.

            "Con – confessions?" Yuri asked.

            "You'll love them!"

            The train station faced the Place de Columbie and Alice made quick strides toward the small shops located a block away on Rue Guy de Maupassant; there she found the tantalizing fragrance of which she had dreamed.  A small confectionary serving fresh baked éclairs and Italian coffee, served hot, thick and with cream and sugar.  Alice's mouth was watering as she stepped into the small shop, her nose twitching with the delectable scents offered up by the baker.  After a few moments she emerged to take a table and Yuri joined her.  He shoved their bags under the small table and looked at Alice, inspecting her like a bug.

            "Are you all right?  You are behaving strangely, Alice."

            "Trust me, Yuri.  You'll like this," she said and then smiled as the waiter brought their tray with éclairs and coffee.

            Alice picked up a small chocolate and cream éclair and bit into it, the chocolate coating her lips and the cream oozing out to dribble down her chin.  Yuri watched this in fascination, even to running his finger down her chin to catch the drips.  Alice smiled and offered him a bite.

            "Uhm, I'm not sure about this," he said, scowling as more cream filling dribbled down onto the china plate.

            "Try it, please," Alice begged.

            With trepidation Yuri took the offered confection and cautiously brought it to his nose to sniff it.  When the smell of chocolate and cream didn't offend, he bit into it.  Instantly his face was covered in warm melting chocolate and the cream filling was pouring over his chin.  Alice giggled at the sight, confirmed in her estimation that Yuri was not a neat eater.  For his part, Yuri took another bite, chewing thoughtfully, running his tongue over and through the mess of chocolate, pastry and cream before slipping out and catching a few dribbles as they ran down his chin, further smearing himself. 

            "Uhmmm, good," he mumbled through the mess.

            "See.  Just like 1000 year old eggs," Alice said with a laugh.  "Have to try it, Yuri.  Now try the coffee."

            Yuri watched as Alice put a few drops of cream into her small cup of black liquid, and then added a generous spoonful of sugar.  She then took a small sip, eyes half-lidded in pleasure.

            "This is one of God's permissible sins, I think," she said.  "The coffee, not necessarily the pastry," she said then giggled.  "Come on Yuri, drink!"

            Yuri put down the remainder of his pastry and picked up the small china cup, swirling the contents before drinking down the entire cup in one gulp.

            "Yuri!"

            Yuri's expression slowly changed from curiosity to shock as the strong dark liquid hit him; suddenly his heart was racing and he tossed down the cup, gripping the edge of the table, his face a ruddy color.  After a moment he caught his breath and scowled at Alice.

            "Dirty trick, Alice.  What the hell was that?"

            "Espresso coffee.  It's a treat, Yuri, and very popular."

            Yuri wiped his face with his coat sleeve and looked at the small upended cup lying on the table.  "My heart is beating really hard; it's poison!" he exclaimed.

            "No, it's not.  It's coffee.  It does that.  It will pass.  Just sip it next time," Alice said and demonstrated with a small sip of her own cup.  But Yuri refused to drink anymore of the concoction, being content instead to watch the young ladies walking down the street, the cute young waitress serving the next table over and, of course, Alice.  The first one Alice ignored, but when she noticed Yuri's eyes widen at the young serving girl's backside, her foot met Yuri's shin and that worthy winced.

            "You're engaged now, Yuri."

            "Just 'cause I ain't buyin' doesn't mean I can't look," he grumbled.  Too late he realized Alice heard and he hung his head.  "I didn't mean it that way."

            Alice scowled at him, her blue eyes flashing icicles.  "Yes you did.  I would rather you be truthful and honest, Yuri."

            "But what did truth and honest ever get me?" he said, thinking back over fourteen years of fending for himself; neither truthful nor honest had played a part in his life at all.  But Alice didn't know that.

            Rising, Alice put some coins on the table.  "Truth and Honesty are the foundations of relationships, Yuri, including marriage.  And I would rather not argue.  Let's try to enjoy the day, shall we?"

            Yuri nodded and took up their bags and followed Alice out along the boulevard.

            The freighter _Long Chance_ out of America had pulled into the port just after sunrise, the local icebreaker crunching an opening in the clogged harbor.  The local dockworkers and longshoremen were already lined up waiting for work assignments, and they weren't alone.  A few of the local women were there as well, ready and willing to offer up their skills for any willing sailor with money.  And behind and through the entire crowd were the urchins, no few of whom were pickpockets and thieves.  One tousled haired boy stood a little apart, watching the movements of the crowd, checking their feelings.  This time of year it was rare to find a ship in port; the ice flows were usually blocking the harbor until well into late March or early April; to use the expensive icebreakers must mean more than just cargo.  The boy, barely thirteen, lean and dressed in over-sized men's work clothes, moved down from his hiding place beside a stack of pallets.  He was momentarily exposed to all eyes before he ducked into the shadows next to the Harbormaster's office.  Here he waited and listened; if he could trade with some dock worker for a few hours of hard work on the ship, he might be able to eat today.  

            He listened carefully as the Master went over the ship's cargo manifest with the Mate, itemizing which things needed to be unloaded first from which holds.  There were crates and pallets with bolts of cloth, foodstuffs and liquor. There were barrels of oil and that rarest of rarities, passengers.  Along with the cargo, the captain had the newest arrivals to Siberia's frozen shores, the American consul.  His visit would be short, but rather than wait for the passenger liner to arrive next month, he had bought passage for his wife and daughter on the freighter in order to get a head start on his work.  Vladivostok was not his favorite stop, so the sooner he finished, the better, to his mind.

            The boy listened and nodded; that explained the early arrival.  Then he heard the other news the Mate brought.  Japan and Russia had been exchanging words for months; the Japanese wanted the Russians out of China, wanted concessions in Asia and the maintenance of the railroad; the Russians were not interested in listening.  To the Captain of the freighter, it looked like war was coming.  To Yuri Ivanovich this was not good news.  Yuri, who had another name which he never spoke, who never spoke in the other language he had known since birth, the language of his father, began to worry.  Life had been difficult enough these past two years since his arrival in Vladivostok.  He had run afoul of gangs, thieves and the local authorities more times than he could count; and now the army or navy?  Yuri shook his head.  Maybe it was time to move on; maybe to Dal'negorsk or inland to Ussuriysk or maybe Changchun in China.  He had left Ussuriysk two years past and maybe they wouldn't recognize him but if they did --?  There would be time to think of that later, for now he needed work.  His stomach growled, putting a punctuation mark on that thought.  

            Slipping back toward the crowd, Yuri slid into line with some burly workers, hiding himself between their larger frames.  The workers didn't seem to mind, he was only a boy after all, and their larger sizes afforded him shelter from dangerous eyes.  He managed to convince another workman to allow him some labor, and for a few hours that day he lumped cargo, stacked crates and ran errands.  By the time of early sundown he had made a few Roubles and, clutching those coins for dear life, fled the port for the back streets and alleys.  He had a small room that offered shelter and no more in the back of an old church; the church had long lain derelict and, even if Yuri gained a small satisfaction at using the once hated building, it still was a church; no heat, no running water and no light. But Yuri Ivanovich could survive without those amenities; he had done so for three years, since the death of his mother left him abandoned in winter.  His father was … well, Yuri did not know, but he vacillated between wanting to find him and wanting to kill him for abandoning him and his mother to the monsters.

            Pulling out the thin blanket he kept stashed under a box in a dark corner of the church cellar, he wrapped up and began to eat; the bread was stale and the potato nearly rotten, but it was better than nothing and was all he was likely to get in this horrible city.   The shop keeper made a point of not serving the urchins and orphans that ran the back alleys, which made him a target for more than one gang of kids, but Yuri had always been fair with him so he got what leftovers were available.  When Yuri first arrived in Vladivostok he had run with such a gang, until he realized that he was low man on their support list; meaning anything he earned went to someone else and he got nothing. The first time he refused to turn over his earnings he got the crap beat out of him, and he now kept a low profile.  Pyotr, the leader of the local thugs, had it in for him and Yuri dared take no chances; one on one fighting he could handle and could probably beat the little snot, but where Pyotr went the rest of his gang went too, and twenty to one odds were too steep.  Finishing the bread and potato in a few bites, he curled up as small as he could and went to sleep.  Tomorrow was another day and he needed to be out early in order to find work.

            Work found him the next day as he made his way to the docks.  There would be no cargo lumping for him this morning; instead he caught sight of a carriage pulling up to the hotel.  From the warm interior of the hotel came several people, one a woman; it was she who mounted the carriage and bade the driver take her … Yuri could not make out the location.  But where his ears failed him, his eyes did not.  Hanging from underneath the carriage struts Yuri could make out a large shadow; the carriage had an unknown passenger.  Yuri knew instantly that it had to be one of the local thieves and knew that the woman was in danger.  They would not hesitate to snuff her if she struggled.  More than likely they would take her valuables and if she was worth something, demand a ransom.  Yuri was sure the only woman worth anything in that hotel was the consul's wife or daughter.    And as the carriage pulled away Yuri slipped back into a side street, eyes scanning quickly for a dark doorway.

            It was chancy, doing it during the day.  The sky was not bright this morning, with clouds scudding across the expanse of forever, bringing in the promise of more snow.  But even clouds could not conceal an apparition as it darted and flew from rooftop to rooftop following a carriage on the street below.  With its dark, evil visage, red eyes and black leathery wings, Yuri's monster was a major cause of alarm.  It was what had driven him from Ussuriysk two years before.  He had used the monster to free himself from the local authorities, their chains and whips no match for his monster's strength and cunning.  His escape had not been without hazard or death however, and he knew that if anyone spotted him here, word would spread and the hue and cry would begin again.  

            Flying and leaping from roof to roof, the monster crossed the town quickly, following the carriage.  Finally it came to a halt and Yuri watched as the lady stepped down and into trouble.  The area was not unsavory; however it was not highly trafficked at this hour and the woman, the daughter actually, found herself surrounded by toughs.  One came from below the carriage, while two more joined from each of the side streets; a total of five thieves and all from Pyotr's gang.  

            Yuri hesitated on the roof across the street from the carriage.  It had stopped at a lady's boutique but at the first sign of trouble the coachman began whipping his shaggy horse to pull away.  With hooves bundled in cloth, the horse took a moment to gain purchase on the icy road then sped away leaving the woman on her own.  That was all the invitation the thugs needed.  They quickly had her surrounded and in another moment, pinned to the ground.   It was now that Yuri acted, leaping from the rooftop, wings spread wide, claws ready. He landed lightly behind the thieves and in a heartbeat had slashed the first one to bloody ribbons. The boy's scream of pain alerted the remaining thieves who looked up into the face of death.  In another heartbeat Yuri had leapt across the girl's prostrate form and slashed another thief, but missed the third.  By now panic had set in and the three survivors fled.

            With a quick glance around Yuri released the monster and returned to his normal lean form.  He bent down to the girl and shook her shoulders, but the girl was unconscious.

            "Ah shit," he muttered in the first words of English he had ever learned.  He pulled the girl off the ground and slung her over his shoulder and started to run.  It was a good fifteen minutes at a quick trot back to the hotel, even while carrying the girl; Yuri was glad to put her down on a lounge in the lobby, telling the concierge what happened.  It was only a few minutes before the consul arrived with his security and his wife.  Yuri told the man what he had seen and that he had luckily happened on the scene before anything happened to his daughter.  The thieves had been chased away by Yuri's saving actions – no mention of a monster – and he returned her to the Western hotel.  The consul scowled, looking Yuri over very closely; the ragged clothing, the spare but muscular body ... this boy was one of them he concluded.

            Yuri had not expected much of a reward and he did not get one.  Instead, the consul had his security escort the young man outside and introduce him to the icy roadway, with a few good kicks added in.  Yuri, bloodied and sore, fled from the hotel, fled from the city and kept on running until he was well outside of Vladivostok.

            "Yuri, are you listening to me?" Alice asked yet again.  The exorcist had stopped walking and was now looking at her young man who had been walking silently, eyes cast down for the past few blocks.

            Yuri looked up, startled. 

            "Uhm, yes?"

            Alice shook her head.  "Not likely.  Yuri, what is it?  Are you upset I kicked you?"

            The young man laughed, shaking the leg she had kicked. 

            "No.  I was just thinking about what you said.  You know truth and honesty.  I have to admit," he said with a rueful shake of his shaggy head, "that I am not very good at either one.  I've done things ... well, there are good thieves and there are bad thieves; thieves are thieves, but there is no such thing as an honest thief."  He waited for Alice to respond but instead she leaned up and kissed his cheek.

            "I know."

            Yuri looked startled.  "You knew?"

            Alice shook her head.  "No.  But it makes sense.  I've watched you.  You have fast hands."  She giggled.  "Come on, let's go."

            Yuri smiled as he followed her down the street, the delectable swish-swish of her short skirt sending shivers down his spine. 

            After an hour of walking they reached a large palace and across the Seine the Tour Eiffel.  Such a tall building Yuri had never seen and could not believe it was even stable.

            "Look!" he said pointing to it as they crossed the river.  "It's all made of wire!  It will fall!" 

            Alice found herself giggling at Yuri's reaction, watching him as he approached the tower with trepidation slowly turning to awe.  When he got to the base and touched one of the support struts he gasped, then laughed at his own ignorance.

            "You must think I'm stupid," he said as he rubbed the back of his neck with embarrassment.

            "Not at all.  Come on, let's go further; there's a nice park and we can rest for a bit."

            "Maybe have lunch?" Yuri asked brightly.

            "_You just ate éclairs_!" Alice said with a laugh.  "How can you be hungry?"

            "_You_ had éclairs; I had a cup of _poison_," Yuri said with a dark scowl, trying to convince Alice of how serious the matter had been.  But he could not maintain the dark look and when Alice broke into giggles he laughed too.  "Okay, but I am hungry.  Meat,  please?  Or do I have to hunt it, kill it, and dress it myself?"

            Alice's shocked look told him volumes. 

            "We are in civilized France, Yuri.  We'll let someone else do that."

            Yuri followed her down the lane trying hard not to laugh, knowing full well that Alice was not as repulsed as she pretended.  He had hunted their supper more than once on the road from China and Alice had never objected, even when supper consisted of rodent.  

            They found a shady spot along the Avenue Pierre and set the bags down.  Alice pointed out a small bistro and Yuri went along to order their food.  Alice had instructed him very carefully on what to say and how to say it, especially since his French was so bad.  His last attempt at ordering food from a restaurant in London had been memorable in its amusement, although the restaurateur had not found 'dog' as an entrée amusing one damn bit!

            Yuri returned shortly with a couple of bags and set them out on his bedroll.  He laughed when Alice realized he'd gotten the order correctly but then she noticed his sandwiches were au juice.  

            "Yuri, how can you do that?" she asked with a grimace as he bit into the extremely rare meat sandwich, sopping with meat drippings.

            He shrugged.  "Sometimes I ate raw; it's not much different."

            Alice toed him with her shoe.  

            "There are times I think you need civilizing, young Harmonixer."

            Yuri grabbed her foot and pulled the shoe from it, tossing it into the grass.  "There are times you need to be more laid back, young Exorcist," he responded.  "Although, laid is a good idea."

            "Yuri!" 

            His smirk was thickly smeared across his face and the chuckle that went with it curled Alice's toes.

            "You are a bad man, Yuri Hyuga."

            "Not bad enough or I woulda already."  Yuri had not relinquished Alice's stockinged foot; he ran his thumb down the arch, sending shivers down her spine.  When she tried to jerk it away, he bent down and kissed the toes, one after the other, pausing to kiss the big toe a second time.

            "Yuri, please," Alice said softly.

            "I'd love to," he said cryptically.

            "No, you're embarrassing me."

            Yuri looked up at her before quickly looking around the park. The afternoon crowds were walking, talking, eating, but no one was paying the slightest bit of attention to the young lovers.

            "No one cares."

            "I do," she said.

            "Okay, I won't kiss your toes, but on one condition."  He looked at Alice's blue-blue eyes and waited for her to nod.  "That I kiss you instead."

            Alice opened her mouth to protest but it was too late. Yuri leaned over and put his mouth over hers, drawing her into a kiss.  It only lasted a heart beat, but when Yuri pulled back, Alice was blushing a deep crimson.

            "Oh, now you _are_ embarrassed," he said with a smile.  "I don't kiss that badly, do I?"

            Alice stammered a reply that got lost in her sudden need for a drink.

            "Ah," Yuri laughed.  "It's only a little kiss; and it's not like my hands are under your dress."

            Alice looked up quickly and frowned.  "They had better not be … unless," she hesitated, "unless … I … give … you … permission."  The last part was said between blushes.

            Yuri chuckled and scooted closer, turning to lie down at her tucked-under feet, his head resting on her knees.

            "Do you know how cute you look when you blush?" he asked, looking up at her.

            Alice shook her head.

            "Do you know how cute you look when you're mad?  At me?"

            Again she shook her head.

            "I think you're cute all o' time, but especially when you're mad at me," he finished.

            Alice thought about that for a minute, letting one hand idly wander through his long hair; the crisp locks falling in reckless abandon over his forehead and into his eyes.

            "You need a hair cut, Yuri."

            "I know."

            "Is that why you make me angry?  Because you think I'm cute?"

            Yuri's smile widened.  "Yup.  It's one of your best features; along with your perky butt."

            Yuri saw the hand descending and caught it with his own.  He drew it down to his mouth and kissed the palm, tickling the flesh with his tongue before kissing each separate finger.

            Alice tried to cover her smile, but failed.

            "You did it again, didn't you?"

            "Got what I wanted," he said as he gently sucked on the fingers.

            "You are a pervert, you know that?"

            "Uh-huh," he agreed.  "A regular bad boy; but I would much rather make love to you than to Zhuzhen or Meiyuan."

            "Yuri!  You didn't!"

            "Nope; but then I haven't had you yet either."

            "And I suppose you'll simply add me to your list of conquests?"

            Yuri thought a moment as he ran his tongue between the fingers of her hand. 

            "It's a short list," he finally answered.

            Alice decided that responding to that would only give Yuri more ammunition, so she ignored it, instead she watched him make love to her fingers. 

            'There are times you really confuse me, Yuri,' she thought.  'I know you've grown up alone, without anyone to tell you right from wrong.  I know that you're probably a lot more experienced than I am.  No, experienced I am not!' she trembled a little at the thought of being married to this man.  He would strip away all her defenses and leave her exposed; could she do it?  Could she go through with marrying such an uncultured, uncivilized barbarian?

            Yuri laid one final kiss on Alice's palm before looking up at her; her expression was pensive and he knew she was deep in thought, probably about some foolish thing he had done.  'Oh well, won't hurt to add one more,' he thought.  He tugged at Alice's arm, pulling her down to look at her face to face.

            "Alice Elliot, I love you," he said softly.

            Alice blushed again, her head turning away slightly, but not before Yuri saw her eyes light up like blue stars.  'Yup, one more thing for you to worry about, Alice.  Will I, or won't I?'  Mentally he laughed, knowing full well the game he was playing was one in his own mind and one likely to get him in trouble if Alice so decided.

            "We – we better get going now, Yuri.  It's getting late and the train will be leaving," Alice said to change the subject.

            "So?  We stay; we play; maybe lay …"

            Alice swatted him.  "I am not paying for tickets so you can act like a perverted sycophant!"  With that she pushed herself to her feet and, bending down to grab her shoe, walked off, hopping to put the shoe back on her foot.

            "Alice?" Yuri called, sitting up on the blanket.  "Alice!  Wait!"  Yuri quickly gathered his blanket and their bags and ran after her.

            At the train station Alice made Yuri wash up in the men's room, threatening to smack him again if he got on the train looking as disheveled as he did now.  The stains on his coat sleeves would not come off, but he washed his face and combed the mop of his hair and, a quick brush of his clothes to remove grass and twigs later, he boarded the train and joined Alice in their seat.  He took the window seat, offering her a wan puppy-dog smile as apology but Alice would have none of it.  With a sigh, he sat and pouted.

            An hour after departure Alice finally relented, signally Yuri she was no longer angry with him with a deep sigh.  She had pulled her book out the moment the train left and began a deep and concentrated reading, ignoring Yuri's obvious presence; and ignoring his despondent sighs.  But now his sighs had died down and he looked thoroughly chastened.

            "Yuri, if you act like that around my mother …" Alice began, "I'm afraid our engagement will be off – permanently.  My mother is a fine Christian woman and a reverend's wife and will not tolerate such familiarity."

            Yuri looked up with shaded amber eyes.

            "I know it.  I am sorry, Alice.  I just get carried away."

            Alice nodded and closed her book, putting it away.  

            "You can sit closer if you wish, Yuri.  Just keep your hands where I can see them," she offered, a small smile turning up one corner of her mouth.

            Yuri's eyes twinkled and he scooted closer.  

            "Okay, Alice."  He placed his hands on his lap but then put them on either side of her, pinning her to the seat.

            "Yuri," Alice warned.

            "My hands are where you can see them," he said with a wicked smile, then leaned in to kiss her.

            Alice mentally sighed.  'It's going to be a long trip.'

            The sun had westered when Yuri and Alice came up for air, the warm oranges and yellows of sunset bathing them both in brilliance.  With a satisfied sigh Yuri sat back and offered his shoulder for Alice's head.  With a yawn she accepted, and nestled close.  Before long the rocking and clacking of the wheels on the tracks was a somnolent and soon they both were sleeping soundly.


	2. Ducks and Sheeps

Chapter 2: Ducks and Sheeps

            The trains out of Zurich were sporadic and crowded.  Yuri, several bags in hand, thrust his way through the crowd on the platform and shoved his way roughly to the train car, pushing aside a Swiss soldier who was trying to keep order.  He was quickly told what to do with himself by several bystanders, but as Yuri didn't understand Schwyzertütsch, the Swiss German, he ignored them.  Plowing his way aboard, he made his way to the coach and tossed his bags inside before returning outside.  Across the platform he could make out Alice's silver-white hair and that of her mother as well.  They were slowly pushing their way to the train but making little headway in the press.  With a snort Yuri jumped from the train and pushed, shoved and kicked his way back through the crowd to open a way for the two women. 

            "Follow me," he said.  "I've got the bags on board and I can make a path for you."  The return trip to the train was another one of pain for anyone in Yuri's way and they were soon settling onboard.

            Life had gotten difficult these past months with the war between the Austrio/Hungarian Empire and France and Russia heating up.  The fighting on the Eastern Front along Galicia was fierce and Yuri had listened intently as Alice read him the daily paper detailing what they knew of the events of the war to date.  Yuri did not know anyone in Russia, didn't even consider it his homeland, but he had spent many years wandering through Russia's expansive territories and didn't want to see it carved up by another country.  And with the fighting on the Western Front no less intense, and the combatants now thoroughly entrenched, Alice and her mother, the Reverend Mrs. Elliot, felt it was time to leave.  Alice's father Morris Elliot had been Swiss but Mrs. Elliot was English; and although there was a beautiful home in Zurich for Alice and her mother, Zinnia Merritt Elliot had decided to return to England.  It was with nervousness that Alice joined her, while Yuri thought of it as adventure.  He was in his element and thoroughly enjoying protecting his Alice and her mother.  Switzerland was neutral, and the trip would be dangerous, but Alice thought England would at least afford her the opportunity to check in with Sharon, Chris and Joshua, the three London Rats left behind when Halley departed for America.

            So they bought tickets for Marseilles, taking the train to the port town in Southern France and then a ship to England.  Yuri had balked at the idea of a ship transit, but the idea of crossing France in the middle of a war was less appealing, although only to the women.  Yuri found the idea exciting, but he was vetoed.  There were some dangers in the crossing by sea as well, and they all knew that the Germans had Unterwasserboote that plied the seas, sinking ships.  But this was a passenger ship, not carrying cargo, and it was flying an Italian flag; all of which pointed to neutrality, if the German's chose to believe it; Alice hoped they did. 

            Once the women were settled Yuri put their bags above their berths and fell into a seat.  He stretched his legs out across the entrance to their car, preventing anyone from barging in without falling over him, and proceeded to take a nap.  Alice and her mother sat talking quietly.

            In spite of the dangers, the voyage to England was unremarkable but for only one incident:  Yuri chose a bad moment to be seasick; the roll of the ship matched his rolling heaves and his stomach empted its contents onto the expensive attire of a wealthy debutant.  The young lady was not amused.  Her father was not amused.  Alice and her mother did their best _not_ to be amused.  Yuri didn't give a shit.  After relieving himself he hung drunkenly over the railing, hoping to fall in; hoping to die; hoping some black arts warlock would declare war on harmonixers and shoot him in the ass.  Southampton could not come soon enough!  But the ship did arrive in due course and Yuri helped with the baggage as Alice hailed a Hansom.  The cab driver loaded up their gear and proceeded at break-neck speed to Alliston Road.

            The Reverend Mrs. Elliot owned a small house on Alliston Road, just up from the hospital of Saints John and Elizabeth.  It was an older house of mixed Edwardian elements, with gabled windows on one side and, as a testimony to England's seafaring past, a widow's walk along the roof peak.  It was also in need of paint and minor repairs, as the white and green exterior had faded and chipped and several shutters hung at odd angles, the house having been left more or less abandoned since Mrs. Elliot moved to Zurich fifteen years before.  There had been caretakers but the last of these had moved on leaving the house closed up.  Alice sighed at the sight of the work to be done.  She had Yuri deposit their bags on the second floor landing and then pointed out the dust cloths to Yuri and he began pulling sheets from the furnishings while Alice grabbed a pail and mop to begin on the upstairs floors.   Mrs. Elliot saw to the kitchen and made a quick order to the market to deliver food.

            Even dusty, the house had homey elements that made Yuri pause in wonder as he gathered the dust sheets from off the furniture.  The front parlor windows were covered with old lace, and there were pictures hung on each of the walls; small items and knickknacks were placed carefully on the tables and fireplace, and the hall leading to the back of the house and the kitchen had photographs and small paintings of previous family members displayed along one wall across from the stairs.  

            When Yuri finished gathering the cloths Alice had him take a broom and mop to the downstairs floors while she finished the bedrooms.  There were only two, with one each for herself and her mother; it looked like Yuri would use the servant's room at the end of the hall.  She bit her lip when she realized that the caretakers had removed all the furnishings from the little room; Yuri would also have to sleep on the floor.  

            'Well, maybe he won't mind.  After all, he slept on the ground for years.'

            By the time the groceries arrived Yuri had finished digging out the first floor rooms and was helping Alice with the mopping – or so he said.  However, in spite of Yuri's assistance, Alice finished the floors in time for supper.  It was a simple repast of soup, vegetables and a little meat with bread.  Yuri picked at his broccoli, poking it with his knife and, when satisfied it was truly dead, picked it up with his fingers.  

            "Is the supper all right, Yuri?" Mrs. Elliot asked, now well used to Yuri's unusual eating methods.

            "Uhm, yes.  I like the little trees."

            Alice giggled behind her hand. 

            "The trees are called broccoli, Yuri.  Eat your soup."

            With a nod, Yuri picked up his soup bowl and drank, slurping up the noodles.

            Alice sighed.  'One of these days he'll master utensils.'  "Yuri, there are spoons for that.  I know you know how to use them," Alice said, an aggrieved tone to her voice.

            Yuri looked up as he finished the soup.

            "Don't need them now, Alice."  

            "Why do I bother?"  Alice asked softly.  "You're a barbarian Yuri; uncultured, uncivilized … a heathen."

            Yuri looked at Alice, his amber eyes sparkling with amusement.  "I am?"

            Alice kicked him under the table.  "You know you are; and you do it on purpose!"

            Yuri laughed while he winced.  "Yes.  But you agreed to marry this uncivilized barbarian, yes?"

            "I can change my mind," Alice stated.

            Yuri looked from Alice to her mother.  Mrs. Elliot silently watched the by-play between them and refrained from comment, yet again.

            "_You_ want me to marry your daughter, yes Reverend Misses?  _You_ want to have grandkids from us, yes?"

            "That's not fair!"  Alice shouted, tossing down her napkin.

            "I think you might be going a bit too far, young Hyuga," Alice's mother finally commented.  "I love my daughter, and yes I want grandchildren.  But you do take things for granted.  And perhaps you need space away from us for a while."

            "What?!?" both Alice and Yuri said at once.

            "What are you saying, mother?"

            Mrs. Elliot stirred her tea with a small spoon, circling the dark liquid in its china cup.  

            "I am only saying that your young man has been with you for well over a year; that he has traveled across Europe twice in your company, and has not been away from you long enough to be gainfully employed or enculturated.  Perhaps if he took some time away …"

            "You want me to leave?"  Yuri asked, surprised.  

            "Mother, please.  It's not like that.  We weren't really fighting; you know that," Alice sat down, her oft repeated argument with Yuri forgotten.  

            "I know.  However, he does need employment if he is to stay here.  Furthermore, he needs to learn to live in England with our customs; how better than to have work somewhere?"  She took a sip of her tea and sighed.  "I really need some time to put my home in order here, Alice.  And I do not want the sound of bickering voices, even in jest.  If your beau needs to bicker, perhaps he should enlist."

            "Mother!  He can't!  He is not English!  You saw what we had to do to get him into the country!"  Alice was becoming visibly upset as she picked up her napkin and worried the corners.  Yuri for his part looked back and forth between the two.  "We had to sign as his advocates.  If he gets into trouble –"

            "Then he had best not get into trouble," Mrs. Elliot said with finality.  "Yuri, what kind of work did you say you had done in China?" 

            Yuri looked confused for a moment then sighed, putting down his own napkin that he had used to wipe the soup from his face.

            "I was a fighter, a monster hunter, or wild beasts at need.  I am not exorcist, but I work pretty good at that kinda thing.  Oh, and I can protect Alice," he added that last with a smile.  "I've also worked on ducks and sheeps," he added almost as an afterthought.

            Alice and Mrs. Elliot both looked at Yuri with puzzled expressions.

            "Ducks?" asked Alice.

            "Sheep?"

            "I don't know, mother, but he means something by that," Alice offered.

            "What kind of ducks, Yuri?  Mallards?"

            "No," and Yuri chuckled.  "Ducks.  You know, where the sheeps come in.  It's where I learned the English," he said with a smile.

            'Oh God,' thought Alice.  "He means 'docks' and 'ships', right Yuri?"

            "That's what I said," he answered.

            Alice sighed deeply and put her head in her hands, elbows resting on the table.  "Maybe Mother is right.  Maybe you do need … something; at the very least to work on your English."

            "What is wrong with my English?  I speak good English," Yuri protested.

            Alice sighed again.  "Tomorrow we'll go to the church, Yuri.  Perhaps the priest has someone to help your English.  And then you can also apply for work at the docks.  You know where Southampton is; there are plenty of docks, wharfs, and warehousing along the river.  There should be work, even in war time."

            Yuri looked from Alice to Mrs. Elliot and shrugged.  "I am not leaving?"

            "Not if you are working," Mrs. Elliot said.  "Come on, let's clean up.  I am for bed."

            "Okay," Yuri offered and picked up his dishes, helping the Reverend Misses with the clean up.  Afterwards he followed Alice upstairs and placed the bags in the rooms, his small satchel with her carpet bag.

            "Yuri, what do you think you're doing?"

            "I'm sleeping here, yes?" he asked hopefully, indicating the canopy bed with its lace and ruffles.

            "I don't think so," Alice said softly.  "Down here."  She took Yuri's satchel and led the way to the small servant's quarters at the end of the hall.  "I'll get you some blankets."

            Yuri stood in the doorway, one hand groping in the dark for the light switch.  When he didn't find it he went to light the gas burner. 

            "Shit," he said looking around the brown and white painted room.  "What a dump."

            Alice came in with blankets and a pillow.

            "Here you go.  We'll get you a bed as soon as we can Yuri.  I'm sorry.  Just do the best you can."

            Yuri took the bed linen and dumped it in the corner.  

            "Alice," he turned back before Alice could leave the room.

            "Yes?"

            With a few quick strides he was at the doorway, pulling it back open.  He then reached down and pulled her into his arms and before she could protest, kissed her.  He lingered over the embrace, his mouth tasting her breath and wishing for more.  But before his hands could begin roaming Alice pulled away, her face burning crimson.

            "Yuri, mother will notice."

            "Good.  She needs to know how much I love you, Alice."

            "Goodnight, Yuri."

            "Wan an, Alice.  Wo ai ni," Yuri said softly, watching as Alice walked back down the short hallway to her bedroom and closed the door behind her.  He sighed then as he turned back to his dark little room.  While grumbling he began to arrange the bedding against one wall, laying out one blanket on the hardwood floor and the remaining blanket and pillow in the corner.  He took his coat and belts and satchel and set them on the floor opposite the bedding and opened the window, turning down the gaslight, and then laid down with a thud on the blanket.

            "What a load of shit," he said softly.  'You'd think I was gonna ...' he thought.  'Maybe I shoulda ...'  He put his arms back behind his head and watched as dust motes floated in the waxing moonlight coming in from the lone window.  The cold March air fogged his breath and added to his melancholy.  He continued to watch each dancing speck as it gyrated in the cold air, each spiral reminding him of Alice; reminding him of Alice's little skirt; reminding him of Alice's little skirt and lacy slip and perky ...  Slowly sleep whispered to him and he fell silently into its embrace.

            The trip the next morning to Saint Johns Wood church left Yuri wishing for a slow boat to China.  The pastor had been more interested in baptizing the heathen than in teaching him the King's English, but Alice had prevailed until that worthy had found a family willing to tutor Yuri.  Their son was off to war and Yuri could spend two nights a week with them.  Yuri, standing silently and listening to the plans being made for him, tightened his fists behind his back and mentally pictured the churchman in a battle against a Bifronze; a hungry Bifronze with a rust and blood encrusted scythe that sliced the air with a moan each time the creature used it.  And he used it repeatedly on the hapless pastor's body, rendering the screaming and ineffectual man into a bloody and bloated corpse whose soul Yuri would refuse to drink.

            "Yuri, are you coming?" Alice asked yet again.  She stood at the door of the church watching as Yuri daydreamed in front of the altar.  He looked like he was praying, except that Alice could tell, with his hands behind him and his fists clenched, he was doing aught of praying.  

            Startled Yuri looked up and Alice caught a gleam of red in his eyes before they returned to their usual amber.

            "Yes, I am here.  Coming, Alice."

            Their next stop was the trolley stand where they could catch a public bus for the docks.  If Yuri could get work there, then his employment problem was solved.  If not, then they both would have to take on jobs as exorcist and assistant.  Alice personally didn't mind, but knew her mother would much prefer it if she remained home for at least a while.  She could volunteer in the local hospitals, offering her magical aide to those who were returning from the Western Front in need of more than what medicals the doctors could offer.

            Once the trolley arrived they boarded and Yuri pushed their way to the rear.  He scowled at a businessman who was sitting in the only available seat until the man began to sweat and relinquished his seat for Alice.  For herself, Alice was doing her best not to laugh, as Yuri's scowls could be quite frightening, especially if he let his mood enter his eyes - which reminded her.

            "Yuri, what upset you at the church?  Did something happen while I was speaking to the pastor?"

            Yuri shook his head and bent down closer to Alice.

            "I don't like him that is all.  And he doesn't like me.  No problem."

            Alice looked up into Yuri's face, noting the way he avoided looking directly at her.  

            "It's the lessons, isn't it?  You don't want to go, do you?"

            "Well, no.  And especially if I am going to be treated to a nightly sermon on the evils of my soul," he added.

            "I doubt they would do that," Alice chided him.

            "You think not?  You think he won't tell them to?"

            Looking up at the young harmonixer, Alice had to think for a moment in order to see the world through his eyes.  He was a roguish looking young man, with eyes that could charm or terrorize; lips that could quickly carry a smirk to its highest form, and an overall Eurasian complexion that she found pleasant but knew that others might not.  It stamped him as Foreign.  He was a ruffian; a vulgar, uneducated man that anyone would look at with disdain.  He would have felt that disdain for most of his life and he would have felt much, much more.  He had grown up alone, without family and friendless.  How much he would have longed for companionship she could only guess, remembering well how lonely he had felt to her when they first met.  Loneliness and despair as his only comrades, and a need to avoid society; for society would have condemned him, not only for his crudeness but for his birthright as well.  Darkness Class, Harmonixer, Fusionist; three dangerous combinations, any one of which would have him condemned in any church in Europe, and certainly had caused him much pain in China.  He would have heard before the lessons of his dark soul, the evil in him that needed to be expunged.  No, she could not blame him for thinking it would be that way again.

            "Well, will you at least give it a try before making a decision?" she asked after a while.  

            Yuri looked down at the delightful pixie in the seat.  She had been thinking all this time; probably about him.  He shook his head slightly, sending the overlong locks cascading into his eyes, shading them from view.  She always knew what to say to pinch his conscience; to make him do what was right, even if he didn't want anything to do with it. 

            'She's that way,' he thought.  'Even when I wanted to smack that irksome Halley around a bit more she insisted I leave him be.  She was right; he just needed to think and then act.  He was a good kid; I was proud to have him at my back against Albert Simon and god.'  Yuri's thoughts flitted from the past to the present as the trolley came to a halt and they debarked, heading down the street to the wharf.  Now his thoughts were of employment; a means of making money legally, and a potential future with Alice.

The freighter Nikolai Karamzin had pulled into dock late in the night, her cargo holds empty and begging for fill.  Yuri had slept on his feet, standing in line for work which would not come until sunup, his arms wrapped around his chest trying to keep warm.  It was early February and he was freezing in the cold night air.  He had left Vladivostok in mid January, his precipitous exit brought about by the American Consul, and he had quickly found himself in trouble.  It was one thing to be on the road penniless and with nothing in the summer, and quite another thing in winter.  He had kept to the side of the road leading north past Ussuriysk, praying some transport would make its way up north.  But Primorye Territory was not known for its heavy traffic in winter so Yuri shivered.  He shivered until he came to the outskirts of Ussuriysk where he spotted his one chance at survival: a gypsy caravan camped in the fields outside of town.  Gypsy's were no more popular in Siberia than anywhere else, but they did travel widely, bringing their skills, their music, and their fortune telling and other things with them.  But where they would not trust an outsider in their camp, especially in the middle of the night, they could be counted on to have the one thing that Yuri desperately needed: a horse.  By dawn of the next day when they realized they were missing a horse, Yuri was crossing the border into Manchuria.

            He had ridden that horse down through Changchun Prefecture and over to Lushun, called Port Arthur by the Russians, and located a little south of Dalian; he had set about working.  He avoided the thieves' guilds and gangs that were just as prevalent here as elsewhere, trying to keep a low profile with the government and a higher profile with the dock foreman.  Today appeared promising with work on the Nikolai looking to last at least a week and the prospect of money chinking in his pocket made Yuri smile.  The next instant the smile disappeared as a sound shrieked through the night air, a scream of unbelievable volume followed by an explosion that rocked the docks.  Yuri was instantly alert, his eyes shifting to spectral for the presence of demons.  But there were none as he realized a moment later when another explosion sent the waiting dock workers to their knees. 

            "It is bombs!" one man shouted as he stood above the others, clinging to the lower part of a loading crane.  "It is ships and they are firing at us!"

            "No!" another man yelled.  "They are firing at the Fleet!"

            "Boshmoi!  We must get away!  It's the Japans!"

            Yuri was instantly glad he had not revealed his last name, using instead the Ivanovich that had held him in good stead in Vladivostok.  A moment later the workers and ship's crew that had been ashore, began fleeing for their lives.  The Japanese, finally disgusted with the political impasse offered by the Russian government, had taken matters firmly in hand.  Catching part of the Russian Fleet at bay in Port Arthur, they began bombardment, decimating the Russian ships and destroying the docking facilities and any civilian ship in port.  The Russian ships sank in the harbor up to their gunwales and sailors died by the hundreds while thirteen year old Yuri fled for his life.

            The war in Europe had gone from bad to worse since the unofficial Christmas truce; the "Race to the Sea" as the newspapers called it, had failed and neither the Central Powers forces nor the combined French army or British Expeditionary Force were able to secure sole access to the northern coast of France and thus stopping any forward movement.  The Germans were now deeply entrenched along a 400 mile stretch from Ypres in Belgium to the Swiss border.  The French and English did the same.  The German navel forces which had been actively attacking British shipping on the high seas were now also blockading the Irish Sea, and attacking any ship flying the British colors, including passenger liners had now issued warnings to all shipping going in or out of British waters: enter at peril of their lives.  U-boats plied the waters of the British Isles and used torpedoes to sink ships that might be carrying contraband: armaments, shell casings, explosives and even medical supplies.  The British internal security was tightened with any foreign agent being taken into custody for the duration, much as was being done in Switzerland with anyone from a hostile country, and the ports became a hotbed of intrigue and security.  The army stationed a platoon to watch incoming ships and regularly run checks on the laborers.  

            Yuri stood at the harbormaster's office, waiting patiently to sign up for work.  With Army security added, it prevented men like Yuri, undocumented foreigners, from getting too close; and in his case, getting any work.

            'It was a good thing Alice had come,' he thought. 'If not I'd probably be headed for prison or something.'

            Alice had presented the documents she had vouched for from the port authority allowing Yuri into the country.  The harbormaster took his time in looking over the voucher, making a quick call to the local police and the dockside Captain in charge of the Army. When the Army arrived Yuri was standing at rigid attention, watching every move the handful of soldiers made as they filed out of their truck and took up positions.  However a few minutes later a police constable also arrived and Yuri now began to sweat, thoughts of prison, chains and torture running through his mind as rapidly as his pulse.  Finally Alice stepped outside.

            "Yuri," she called.  "Come inside."


	3. A Little Case of Murder

Chapter 3:  A Little Case of Murder

Disclaimer: Before I forget, I don't own them, but that's the way of the world.  Thank you to all my readers and reviewers.  I am always surprised when I get mail! 

This is the last chapter before the 'holidays'; please enjoy your winter/summer and I'll post up after January 1, 2004!

            It was a few weeks short of spring and the wharf was shrouded in heavy fog; the weather had been warm that morning but the usual evening breeze from off the river had failed to arrive and thus fog had rolled in, covering everything in a pall of moist white.   London was used to the ever-present wash of fog and rain that courted her each year, but many who called London home were not.  Even long-time police investigators would pull up their collars and wish for a summer day.  

            Captain Cashiel stood at the entrance to Dock 23 warehouse and chewed on the stub of his cigar.  At a little under six feel tall, he was built more like a bulldog than a man, with pulled down lips and eyes.  Thinning hair was hidden beneath a plain brown Fedora and he wore the usual uniform of the investigating detective – plain grey overcoat, rumpled off-white shirt, brown slacks, and black shoes.  He watched as two of the local constabulary pulled the tarp from the latest in London's death toll.  This one was an old seaman by the look of his clothing, but now the old tar was just another casualty.

            "Same as last one?" he asked the constable.

            The officer nodded, indicating the rips along the old man's chest.  "Yes sir, something sharp across his neck and then down his front; neat as a pin."

            Cashiel sighed.  This was the fourth such in as many weeks.  The last had been a call girl; the one before that a house wife.  There did not seem to be a pattern for location or victim; but the modus operandi was the same each time.  Someone, or something, was slicing these people up and taking … Cashiel bit down on his cigar stub and it broke off in his mouth.  Spitting it out, he indicated the body.

            "Have him taken in; same checks as last time.  Anything we can find out about how this is being done …" he was speaking to his lieutenant, Carter.

            "Yes, Captain.  What about the newspapers?  They'll want a statement."

            "Humph!" Cashiel grumbled.  "Let 'em wait.  I need to buy us time to solve this thing."

            "You know they already are comparing this to Red Jack."

            "Bugger 'em!" Cashiel growled.  "You didn't hear that!"

            "No, sir," the lieutenant said with a slight smile.  "I'll notify the coroner."

            Cashiel stood aside as his men did their work and watched the fog roll through the docks; ships carrying much needed war supplies were berthed throughout the wharf and each boasted a full compliment of sailors.  Could this old man have known any of them?  Maybe shared a drink this evening?  Or maybe one of them saw what happened?  With several hundred men in just this one berth alone, his men would be hard-pressed to catch everyone for a statement.  And it might not have been any of them; there was also the casual labor to consider. Maybe it was some lunatic who worked as a laborer and got his kicks out of murder.

            Cashiel mentally reviewed the locations of the first murders.  The first had been less than a mile from the docks.  The woman, one of the local prostitutes, was sliced and left in a back alley, her heart and other vital organs removed from her chest.  The wife and mother met a similar fate about five miles from the wharf, but the same description of huge slashing wounds along the chest, the throat cut and then the organs removed … Cashiel shuddered.  Either it was a raving lunatic or a monster.  The Chief Inspector didn't want to hear that word 'monster' ever uttered in the precinct.  But Cashiel had seen enough in his early years on the force to know that such things did exist – and right here in London.  But his personal theory right now was madman; human and perverted as all hell, but still a man; and he prayed to God he'd not be proven wrong.

            Captain Cashiel read the coroner's report once more before tossing it onto his crowded desk.  It didn't tell him anything that he didn't already know about the recent homicides.  Each victim, whether male or female, had been unescorted.  Each victim had been attacked, their chest ripped open by a sharp object, possibly a claw or claw-shaped metal weapon.  Each one had their throats cut and their hearts and organs removed.  With the massive amounts of blood loss, the coroner could not say if someone drank the blood as well.  That would put a small rest to the vampire stories circulating now.  But beyond these obvious clues, the method of this murder's deeds, Cashiel was at a loss to find a reason.  None of the victims knew each other.  Furthermore, the only link seemed to be the area around the wharf.  There was no set time; nor place. It could be a sailor, or it could be a service person within the docking areas. 

            Cashiel scratched at his stubble of a beard, wondering absently when he would get home to shave.  Perhaps the next day would bring more for him to work on; unfortunately that also meant it might take another victim before he could puzzle the pieces together; unless it really was a monster.  Maybe he should look up an exorcist while he was at it, just in case.

            The next day did indeed bring another piece to the puzzle, and another victim.  Cashiel chomped hard on his cigar as he viewed the latest, this one a young pregnant woman.  Only a slight difference in the modus operandi; slit belly to throat and the heart removed, but the belly had been slit again cross-wise and the baby … Cashiel turned away, praying it was a monster.  

            "This is one sick fucker," he muttered as Lieutenant Carter joined him.  He looked up at his officer, noting the pale face, the drawn lines around his mouth.  "It's what I thought, isn't it?  The baby…?"

            "Yes sir.  I'll have the coroner on it right away."  The young lieutenant shook his head. "What kind of sick bastard are we dealing with Captain?"

            Cashiel shrugged, one hand indicating the body now covered with a coroner's tarp.  "I'm not at all certain.  Any word yet from Brittey?"

            "Yes, he checked in not half an hour ago.  He said he'd meet you in your office. Has some interesting stuff; his words."

            "Great.  I hope it's useful; not like the last time he went chasing geese."

            The lieutenant smiled.  "I'll take care of this, Captain.  And fend off the newspapers.  They'll be here any second, I'm sure."

            Cashiel nodded again, chewing on the cigar.  "You're a good man, Carter.  No transfers, ya' hear?"

            "Wouldn't dream of it, sir," the lieutenant said with a grin and turned to direct the local officers.  Cashiel made his way to his car, telling the driver to get him back to the Yard.  If Brittey had anything useful he'd rather see it now.  Five dead bodies - five bodies missing vital organs; and one baby.  Gods!  What could go wrong now!?!  His thoughts wanted to refuse to encompass that there was more to this than his own Commander was willing to view.  As his car pulled away from Lollard Street, Cashiel said a silent prayer. 

            "What do you mean this has been going on for months?" Cashiel growled at Brittey.  The smaller man was hunkered down on the guest chair, a pile of folders loosely grasped in his hands.  Brittey had not the usual look of an investigator; in fact he looked like a scholar, which is what he was.  Cashiel found his skills useful for research and often included the young man in his cases.  It was unfortunate that Brittey was also the strangest scholar Cashiel had ever seen.  He was small of build, almost dwarfish, with grey hair and pale washed-out blue eyes lost behind a pair of over-sized wire-rimmed glasses. 

            "Exactly, Captain; I checked back through the records; deaths of similaritude have been occurring for nearly a year; I have even followed the trail of murders into the West Country.  These have been few I will admit, with the local officers issuing certificates of death by accident or foul means; however I trust my research."

            With a flourish he placed a file on Cashiel's already cluttered desk; the file was filled with papers, photographs and small pouches with samples.  Cashiel looked through it briefly before looking back at the young researcher.  The mess within the file belied the man's abilities.

            "Accidental death;  with bodies eviscerated?  Is there something else?" he asked.

            "Yes.  But I hesitate to bring it up; it is much, much too fantastic."

            Cashiel reached into the small box on his desk, withdrawing a cigar.  "You've got my attention, Brittey.  Spit it out!"

            "Well, do you remember the incident last year; the one with the unusual sightings that began in the West and even went as far as France?"

            "Incident?"

            "Yes; the strange … uhm, I don' know what to call it: a building I suppose; the one that rose up from the Irish Sea?"

            Cashiel thought a moment, placing the incident.  "Yes, I remember.  Last summer; no one knew what it was, where it came from, or what it was doing.  There were some huge explosions, like a battle was taking place, and then the whole bloody thing came crashing down."

            "Yes, and that light above us, above the earth?  Well, I think this is related."

            Cashiel was skeptical.  "How?"

            "The incidents of murder began shortly after that thing blew up.  And furthermore, there have been reports of murder and carnage from that area of Wales, near Aberystwyth going back over fifteen years.  There used to be a monastery there, but now it's all ruins.  At first I didn't think it possible, but it's too close to be a coincidence and I think our killer came from there."

            Cashiel sat down with a thud into his chair. He pulled the file closer and took a more methodical approach to its contents.  

            "You think so, do you?  And your opinion of the murderer?"

            "Not a murderer, Captain, a killer; a monster.  Awakened or created at that place.  You find the people involved in that incident and maybe you find your monster too."

            'That's what I was afraid of,' Cashiel thought.  'Damn!  Why me!?!'

            Later that day found Cashiel pounding his way back to his office, his feet hitting the floorboards with authority.  He was not happy.  Not that he was ever truly happy, but today was by far the absolute worst.  He had studied Brittey's folder with its notes, samples, annotations and personal speculation. He had also re-read the coroner's reports; all of them.  Then he had approached the Chief Inspector.  He was unsure if Chief Inspector Harris was a total psychopath or just volatile.  He opted for the later as the former was much more frightening by far and, hat in hand, had fled back to his office.  Harris had not wanted to hear the utter nonsense of monsters from Wales and floating buildings.  Cashiel had to admit that both would be difficult at best to accept under normal circumstances, but he himself had seen both, even if Harris had been State-side at the time.  And there was no denying that something not human was involved; just how involved Cashiel didn't know just yet.  

            Yuri's days had become routine.  Up with the sun, grab a quick bite of breakfast and run for the trolley to work at the docks.  Two evenings a week he stepped in for English lessons at the home of Matthew and Ann Monroe.  At least that's what he told Alice.  He did in fact attend the lessons exactly once, before he stomped out the door with a tirade of Russian vitriol that would have buried the listeners if they had understood.  So instead of attending to English, Yuri attended to more work; or an occasional visit to English cultural sites like the Fox and Goose, Barney's Bout and Cobber's Cove, all notorious hangouts for the local dockworkers.  With the cultural exchanges attended to, Yuri would often miss his trip home and spend the night in a back alley or snoring in the shadows of the crates waiting in the warehouse for loading.   Alice had said nothing of his nocturnal absences and thought Yuri would tell her when he was ready; she sincerely hoped it was for work and not something else.

            One morning in March Yuri told Alice he was taking some extra work that day and would be working late.  He showed her the admit slip that would get him into the warehouse that day and Alice sighed.

            "I wanted to have supper with you sometime this week, Yuri."

            "Oh, well.  I am sorry.  I can change it maybe?" he asked, curious of the occasion.  

            "That's all right.  Your work is important; especially since you are bringing in a great deal of money and mother is pleased as it is helping to restore the house," Alice said with a small smile.  "I was just hoping to celebrate our anniversary.  Did you forget?"

            They were in the dining room, Alice finishing her eggs while Yuri stood over his plate of toast.  Yuri thought a moment as he downed his cooling cup of tea and crammed the last of his toast into his mouth, chewing loudly.  He shook his head.

            Alice sighed.  "I thought not.  We were reunited a year ago this week.  In Bistritz."

            Yuri's eyes widened.  

            "You remember when it was?" he said, clearing his throat.  "I tell you, Alice.  We do it tomorrow night, yes?  I take you to dinner out maybe?"

            Alice rose from the table, taking a few quick strides to be at his side.  She straightened his trench coat collar, pulling back the ubiquitous buckles.  "I was going to cook; some of your favorites; rice, Kung Pao chicken, and broccoli."

            Yuri laughed.  "You, cooking Chinese?  That is good.  I like that.  Okay, you cook; I eat and tell you how great a cook you are, all right?"

            Alice smiled and, standing on tip-toes offered her lips for kissing, and with a lop-sided grin Yuri bent down to give her one, his hands taking her by the waist and pulling her closer.  Alice didn't demur and Yuri let the kiss become longer as he felt Alice's hands on his shoulders.

            "Ah-hum!" 

            "Oh damn!" muttered Yuri and he looked up at the Reverend Mrs. Elliot as she stood in the doorway to the kitchen.  "Hello, Reverend Misses."

            "Hello Yuri.  Just leaving?" Alice's mother asked pointedly.

            "Yup, going, I-am-going, I am, sure ..." flustered he looked down at Alice and sighed.  "I be back soon, Alice," and Alice could almost but not quite hear the 'sweetheart' he offered under his breath.

            Alice turned to her mother after Yuri left.  

            "Mother, please try to be more patient with Yuri," she said, picking up the dishes and heading for the kitchen.

            "Oh, I am patient, Alice.  But if I let him get away with even a small thing, he'll be running over us in no time.  He is that kind of person," her mother answered.

            "He's not _that_ bad," Alice said, knowing full well he was.  "His upbringing was a bit different is all."

            "How different can it be, Alice?" her mother queried as she put the kitchen to rights after breakfast.  "It's not like he didn't have parents!"

            "Well, actually, he didn't.  Yuri is an orphan.  His parents were murdered when he was but ten years old."

            Mrs. Elliot hesitated in her work before continuing as if nothing had been said. 

            "That's too bad," she finally commented.

            "He's not a bad man, mother.  He's a perfectly normal twenty-five year old."

            Alice's mother refrained from further comment.

            Yuri reported to the harbormaster and was assigned to load cargo along with other foreign workers.  He spent the day stacking and carrying boxes, barrels and crates along with several Hindi's, a brace of Negroes from Africa and a pair of Swedes; these later he had worked with before and were also known for their ability to hold liquor.  Bart and Hamel, a couple of longshoremen, had long wanted to find their limit and exploit it, but as yet no one had been able drink them under the table. 

            The day progressed and Yuri finally took time for supper.  He was joined at the local watering hole by Bart, the Walking Boss in charge of the men on the ships, as well as others of the work crew.  The crew piled into the pub which served up the meat pasties, and Yuri tucked away two before coming up for air.  By then there were bets going around about drinking.  Yuri's ears perked up at the mention of five-hundred pounds.

            "Come on, Yuri!" Bart shouted at Yuri from across the pub.  "We've got to pull together on this.  If those Swedes beat us, we'll never live it down.  Come on, British pride!"

            Yuri laughed quietly.  "But Bart, I'm Russian!"

            "Ah hell, a Russki!  Those bastards can drink ANYone under; just ask 'em!" one patron shouted to a chorus of laughter.

            Bart, a tall, beefy man in his thirties turned to look at Yuri, who was silently chuckling as he put away a third meat pasty.

            "If you do this Yuri-boy, I personally guarantee you'll work every job that comes into this port if'n you wanna," the man said.

            Yuri wiped meat gravy from his chin and considered how much money that could mean for him and Alice.  

            "Well," he said, "I guess I can try.  What are we drinkin?" he thought to ask as the other patrons shouted their support.

            "Stout, what else!"

            Yuri's eyebrows arched into his long hair, but he shrugged.  How hard could it be, he wondered.

            There were loud shouts as the two challenged entered the pub.  Lars and Sven were tall, brawny and defiantly blonde in a room full of brunettes.  They laughed and accepted the challenge, especially when seeing the puny little boy the British were sending against them.

            "I have to out drink BOTH of them?" Yuri asked, feeling his stomach suddenly very full of meat pies.

            "Nah, just one of 'em.  Sven or Lars, take yer pick."

            Yuri eyed them both, standing a head taller than him and out-weighing him by at least a hundred pounds.  Neither looked promising, but oh well.

            "Lars, I guess."

            Lars, grinning toothily, stepped up to the bar and took a stool, Yuri joining him a moment later.  The barman served each a frothy pint of dark brew and Lars was the first to down his, wiping his hand across his chin as he finished and setting the glass down with a thud.  Yuri's eyes had watched the man then he too took his pint, downing it in one swig before placing his mug on the bar with a pounding rejoinder.

            Lars laughed heartily and pounded the bar.  

            "Good! A challenger worthy of the name!"

            Yuri merely smiled and waved his hand, indicating his readiness for the second pint. Totally forgotten was his second shift at the dock.

            An hour later Lars was still grinning if a bit blurry around the edges; Yuri was feeling no pain and wondering what all the fuss was about.  Then he stood up and understood.  The floor met his chin and there was a loud crack, followed by gales of laughter and groans as bets were paid.  With a loud curse Bart helped him to his feet and down the hall to the lavatory.  Yuri could barely lean against the wall to do his business while Bart shook his head.

            "You did all right boy, but not enough.  Still, you made yerself a pot of money, but no work for ye, sorry; a deal's a deal."

            Yuri groaned as he straightened his pants and looked at Bart, the older man's face a mix of amusement and disappointment.  He had hoped to win big with this boy, but life was full of sorrows.  Bart grabbed Yuri by the arm and swung him out the door and through the back entrance.  

            "Git home, ya drunkard!" he yelled and pushed hard.

            Yuri went flying out the door to land in the back alley and face first into the trash.

            Some time later Yuri came to, his face still pressed into the foul waste of the pub's trash pile.  With his vision blurry he was unsure where he was, and once he gained his feet he found his sight was not the only thing affected.  He staggered, catching one hand on the grimy wall behind the pub before righting himself and slithering down the alley toward the street, doing more of a slide-walk than a step-walk.  He slid to his knees once he cleared the alleyway and looked around.  It was very late; fog had rolled in and now blanketed the streets in eerie white and grey.  Yuri sniffed, taking in the fishy tang of the nearby river and then turned up Bankside toward Blackfriars Bridge. He made it as far as the roadway before he stopped to lean on a light pole, his stomach roiling.  With a sound best not described, he left his stomach's contents on the sidewalk.

            With his head still swimming and his legs unsteady, Yuri was attempting to mount the bridge roadway a few minutes later but could not seem to negotiate the pedestrian stairs; the ground kept coming up to meet his knees and the bridge was swaying chaotically.  He tried twice, cursing at each failure.  Finally he paused, he knees resting on the next step up and realized that he was swimming.  The fog had thickened and he could barely see the roadway ahead of him; either that or he was going blind.

            'Shit,' he thought then belched loudly.  It occurred to him that getting back to Alice's place might be easier said than done.  He patted his pocket but came up empty, completely forgetting the five hundred pounds tucked inside his boot.  'Nothing for it, I guess.'

            With due consideration he found the fusion he wanted; something perfectly capable of walking when the ground was as unsteady as it currently was.  A moment later his mind, still in a fog, grabbed the fusion soul: he felt his body elongating, growing in length but then hunkering down nearly on all fours.  He felt a long tail sprout from his backside and swish with impatience before steadying, catching his balance.  Multi-faceted eyes searched the fog before choosing the path home and in the next instant the water fusion Man Dragon was scuttling up the fog-enshrouded streets heading for Alliston Road.

            Not a few pedestrians that night thought they saw a monster ambling along the Strand.  And not a few thought about hunting the creature; a large man-shaped lizard with blue skin would be hard to miss!  But the swim of voices in the fog and the unsteady tilt of the streets kept Yuri/Man Dragon busy moving ahead, one thought on its/their mind: find Alice.  Yuri moved through several neighborhoods, houses dark and hidden both by dark and fog; at one point while crossing Park Lane into Hyde Park he met a Hansom trotting down the street, its lantern lit against the fog. He narrowly missed the old horse-drawn buggy before stepping into the headlights of a delivery lorry coming up the other way; horn blaring, eyes dazzled by the lights, the fusion stood transfixed a moment before fleeing into the park.  

            Yuri's drunken amble carried him deep into Hyde Park; he tramped through the grass and over the man-made hillocks and crashed through the nursery,  his long lizard tail putting paid to several prized white roses and smashing through the herb garden, destroying the hundred year old lavender.  Having left his mark Yuri made his way along the carriage drive and left the park just past Lancaster Gate.  He was headed toward Gloucester Terrace with its houses and small businesses and estates, when a police car, coming from the west, spotted him.  Instantly the fusionist was in trouble, his large blue frame too obvious even in the fog.

            The clanging bell of the police car was certainly raising the dead as Yuri crossed Gloucester Terrace heading east toward Paddington Station.  Even at this hour of the night the traffic was continuous near the station but Yuri did not know this; instead he was fleeing in a wobbling zigzag pattern that was his attempt to stay righted on the badly swaying streets.  However when Yuri/Man Dragon arrived outside Paddington Station, he was met with an arriving train and nearly a hundred passengers debarking.  The chorus of screams was terrifying.  In a sudden panic, Yuri changed fusion; his first instinct, that of survival, kicked in even when his brain didn't.  As a group of passengers cringed near the station exit, they were treated to the vision of a large blue lizard-like creature suddenly blur, appear as a man for a brief moment and then change again, this time growing in height; a set of six foot leathery wings suddenly snapped open and the creature, more like a demon from hell, took flight, its hell-red eyes glowing in the foggy sky.

            Yuri/Death Emperor miraculously managed to fly north, over Little Venice and toward Saint Johns Wood.  His flight was lopsided, first on one wing, and then the other as balance on the ground was much easier than balance in the air!  Great leather wings swiveling to catch the errant night breezes and balance his precipitous flight, Yuri eventually arrived at Alice's home.  He had remembered that the white Edwardian house was the only one with a widow's walk along the roof and aimed for it, crashing down with a loud thud, nearly falling off the other side as his thin midsection came into sudden contact with the railing; as it was he hung over the wrought iron rail and decorated the face of the house, his stomach registering its protest over flying drunk.

            After a few minutes of retching Yuri righted himself and headed for the roof door, his hooves dragging and scratching the roof as he walked, but his footing was unsure and he slid off the roof.  Below, in the second floor bedrooms, both Alice and her mother heard the crash landing on the roof and the clomping footfalls.  Alice put on her robe and grabbed her book, heading out into the dark hallway.  There was only the stairs behind her and a small beveled glass window at the end of the hall to let in light; the door to Yuri's room was closed and he hadn't stopped to say goodnight so he probably wasn't there. 

            Alice, book in hand, had turned for the stairs when she heard a heavy thud and then scratching near the small window; she turned once again in time to see a dark figure crash through the small window, obliterating it, and then fall to the floor.  In a rush she ran toward the figure, her book out, a spell on her lips; she was summoning the power of Light to cast onto the intruder when her mother entered the hall with a light and Alice could see …

            She suddenly stopped mid-spell, her steps faltering as the figure of Death Emperor slowly wobbled to his hoofed feet.  The shattered glass crunched beneath him and his wings quickly fluttered in an attempt to help right himself.  Death Emperor did not look normal to Alice.

            "Yuri," she said softly, putting her book down and offering a supportive hand.

            Yuri/Death Emperor managed to fold back his wings and right himself completely as Mrs. Elliot arrived.  She had never seen such a monster, and was amazed her daughter was so fearless as to confront it.  The creature wobbled a bit, and Alice took its arm.  In a heartbeat Mrs. Elliot's nightmares came true as the creature reached out its long arms and grabbed her daughter.  She quickly looked around and, spotting Alice's book discarded on the floor, picked it up and jumped at the creature, giving it a good hit in the side of the head with the large tome.  There was a wonderfully satisfying thud from the creature's head as the book made contact, followed by a loud moan as it fell to one boney knee and … retched!  

            "Oh great Maker!"  Mrs. Elliott cried, and then swallowed a scream as the demon began to blur, its features melting into that of Yuri Hyuga!


	4. Hue and Cry

Chapter 4: Hue and Cry

A/N: As I have been handed next week's work schedule, I doubt I'll be coming up for air, so a week early it is!  Greyfriars, – Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Once again, I don't own Shadow Hearts.  Only Cashiel, Carter and well ...  

WARNING!   This is WHY it's rated "R"; if you do not appreciate graphic violence, adult languages or situations, TURN BACK NOW!  

            Captain Cashiel's morning was skidding downhill and the sun had yet to rise over fog-laden London.  There was another killing, yet another body to account for.  But when he arrived on the scene, a filthy back alleyway behind a pub, he was given the best news he could have had: eye witnesses.  Two of the pub regulars reported seeing a monster leaving the area just before discovering the body.  The witnesses also said they knew the last person to see the dead man alive.

            Once the coroner's wagon had departed Cashiel went to talk to the witnesses.  The pub owner, a thin man in his forties with thin graying hair and brown eyes, and a man from the wharf in charge of the day labor, Bart Howell.  The pub owner told the usual story of busy patrons, workers from the wharf coming in at supper time for pasties and beer.

            "Well yes, there was somewhat unusual last night. Him and another gets into a drinking contest.  Him what died was the winner; him what didn't win … well, I dunno Cap'n.  I lost track of 'em in the crowd.  But I 'member he's Russian."

            Cashiel nodded and dismissed the owner to speak with Bart Howell.  This was a middle aged man with a clever look in his eyes, and Cashiel would just bet he started the wagering contest in the pub.  Bart stood with his hat crushed into his fist, his sloppy brown hair falling into his plain face.

            "Well, the men like to get a little ahead, if'n ya know what I mean.  A little wagering can liven up the night and the lucky one gets as much as he can get."

            "What did you offer last night," Cashiel asked.

            "Well, the pot was pretty good; the Swedes had been round a coupla times to wipe us out so the bettin' got heavy.  Loser took himself 500 pounds cash."

            "And the winner?" Lieutenant Carter prompted.

            "Well now, I offered work for the winner."

            "You said the betting got heavy, who was your champion?"

            "Ah, that would the Russki."

            "And did you bet on the Swede or the Russian?" Carter asked.

            "Now I know what yer thinkin' Lieutenant, but I didn't kill the man.  Yuri maybe did, I dunno."

            "Yuri?  Is that the Russian?"

            "Yeah.  He's usually a quiet kid, but he got so drunk I tossed his arse out into the alley; he maybe waited to off the big guy, seein' as he lost work 'cause of the bet."

            "Did he now?" Cashiel said.  "And when did this all happen?  What time did he leave?"

            "Ah, close to ten of the clock as I can remember."

            "And can you tell me where I can find this Russian?"

            "Yup, lives with his old lady up on Alliston Road.  I'll hafta get his numbers from the Harbormaster office."

            "No, that's quite all right; I'll get that later.  Anything else you can tell me about these two, the Russian and the Swede?"

            Bart thought for a moment, his eyes squinted shut.  "No, 'cept they mighta known each other.  Harbormaster and Army keep all the foreign bastards together ya know."

            "Yes, I'm sure."  Cashiel nodded at Carter and the two turned toward Cashiel's car.  "I want that address; and any history we can pull on this Russian.  Immigration should have something.  I want to see it before noon."

            "Yes Captain.  Think we found our killer?" Carter asked as Cashiel climbed into his car.

            "Not sure.  But he was there; he possibly knew the victim. And the monster sightings were all around the same time.  I don't believe in coincidences."

            Yuri's head was pounding when he awoke late the next morning.  His eyes opened to a blurry expanse of brown and he realized he was lying face down on the floor of his bedroom.  He didn't remember coming home and he obviously hadn't changed his clothes as he was still in his work clothing and coat.  Running a hand through his hair he took a long slow breath, trying to clear his head; it didn't help.

            He rose and headed for the bedroom door but it was bolted shut from the outside, stopping him in his tracks.

            'What the…?'  He tried the door handle again to no avail.

            "Hey!  Alice!  Let me out!  Hello?" he shouted, banging on the door.  He raised one foot to kick the door but at the last minute remembered that would not please Mrs. Elliot so instead he turned toward the small window in his room.  He had just raised the sash to climb out onto the roof when the bedroom door opened.

            "Yuri, come downstairs, please," Mrs. Elliot said before turning back down the hall.

            Yuri followed her into the hall but instead of heading for the stairs he made for the bathroom.

            "Downstairs, Yuri!" Mrs. Elliot's stern voice carried down the hall.

            "I will, I will. But I gotta go!" he shouted and slammed the bathroom door shut. 

            Mrs. Elliot descended the stairs and rejoined her daughter in the sitting room.  Her daughter looked tired, her usually neatly braided hair was pulled back into a single plait that hung limply behind her, and while she was no longer wearing her night robes, she was wearing yesterday's rumpled clothing.  Mrs. Elliot was also sure that she did not look very well rested herself. They had spent the night in long discussion.  After a few minutes of protracted silence they heard the bathroom door open and slam shut again and Yuri's booted feet as he descended the stairs.

            "All right, I am here," he said as he entered the sitting room.  The first thing he noticed was the bright afternoon sunlight filtering in from outside, followed by how disheveled Alice looked.  He frowned and went to kneel beside her chair.

            "Are you all right, Alice?  Are you sick?"

            Alice shook her head but would not look at Yuri.  

            "No, I am all right, Yuri.  Please sit down."

            Yuri pulled a chair from the nearby desk and sat next to Alice, the sun at his back.  Mrs. Elliot was standing in the center of the sitting room, her clothing as disheveled as Alice's and she looked angry.  Yuri scratched his head, knowing that something was amiss but not sure what. He looked down at his hands and waited.

            "Yuri Hyuga is there something you wish to tell me?" she finally asked.

            Yuri looked up.  "Uh, no?"

            "I see.  You have no explanation for your behavior last night; nor for your deceitful lies to me?"  Mrs. Elliot had put her hands behind her back and was looking sternly at Yuri.

            "Lies?  Last night?  I dunno what I did.  My head hurts; did I get in fight or somethin'?"

            Alice looked at Yuri, an expression of surprise crossing her brow.  "You don't remember?  Yuri, are you saying you have no memory of what you did last night?  None at all?"

            Yuri scratched his head, pulling free a few tangles as he did so.

            "Well, not really.  Did I do something stupid?  If I did, I am sorry."  At that he looked up again at Mrs. Elliot.  "And I don't remember ever telling you a lie, Reverend Misses."

            Before her mother could respond Alice turned to Yuri, taking his rough and calloused hand in hers.  

            "What did you do yesterday?"

            Yuri smiled.  "I worked of course.  Then I went to supper."  He paused, his almond-shaped eyes squinting in concentration.  "I remember having a beer or two; but after that …" he shrugged. 

            "You came home drunk Yuri; very drunk.  And you had fused," Alice said quietly.

            Yuri's head came up quickly and a pounding pain shot through him, causing him to moan.  He rubbed his face with his hands and tried to remember.  But all he could see was pain.  And fog.

            "Was it foggy last night?  I remember there was fog; and – and the bridge kept moving," he said at last.

            "Yes, it was foggy.  Why did you drink Yuri?  I want to know?  You told me you were going to work a second shift."

            He looked at Alice and shrugged sheepishly.  "I did, didn't I?  But I didn't lie about it," this last he directed at Mrs. Elliot.

            "Perhaps not, but you have lied about so many things," she said and pointed at him.  "What class are you, Yuri Hyuga?"

            "Class?" he asked confusion awash in his eyes before he understood.  "Darkness class, but you know that.  I never lied about that."

            "And what are you?  Are you truly just a monster hunter?"

            Yuri felt a sudden frisson travel up his spine and he looked from Alice to Mrs. Elliot. 

            "This is about my fusing last night, yes?"  Alice nodded.  "I never told you about that," he looked at Mrs. Elliot.  "I wasn't tryin' to hide it, really.  I – it just never came up.  I have fusion, Reverend Misses.  It is what helped me to save and protect Alice."

            "And what else?"

            Yuri shook his head.  "Nothing.  I – I am – nothing.  Never mind; if you are going to hate me now, after all this time, because I can fuse, well then, there is nothing else I can say, no?  You hate me, I cannot change that.  But I never lied to you.  I love Alice; I protected her and want to go _on_ protecting her."

            "That might prove difficult, Yuri," Mrs. Elliot said and turned to the small table by the door.  She picked up a newspaper and, walking across the room, handed it to Yuri.

            The front page was the usual headlines about the war in Europe. There was a report from the front: on March 10th the British forces in France tried to break through the German trenches at Neuve Chapelle and capture Aubers. Three hundred forty two guns launched missiles at the enemy for over thirty minutes followed quickly by the British forces attacking along the line.  After four hours of fighting, often hand-to-hand, the village of Neuve Chapelle was captured.  The British considered it a success, however the northern sectors had failed in their bombardment of the German lines and the soldiers that crossed No Man's Land were faced with intact German trenches bristling with artillery.  Not a man survived the attack; nearly thirteen thousand dead.

            Below that was a small article on a monster sighting at Paddington station in the wee hours of the morning.  Witnesses clearly described a lizard-like creature that seemed to blur and transform into a devil and fly away to the north.  A rough sketch accompanied the article and the likeness to Death Emperor was startling.

            Yuri looked at the paper; he could not read the English words save but for the simpler text, however the picture was another matter.

            "Oh," he said quietly.

            Captain Cashiel sat in the back seat of his car as the driver took him across town toward Saint Johns Wood.  It was a rather well-off neighborhood with merchants and businessmen living a better life than those he saw daily in the areas around the Strand.  Next to him was Lieutenant Carter while one officer rode across from him and another rode up front.  The report on his lap did little to dissuade him that these men would not be necessary.  The man they were on their way to see was a foreign national who entered without papers; he had been vouched for by a young woman and her mother.  There did not appear to be coercion on his part, but they had traveled alone from Zurich in war-time and the man had listed his profession as that of hunter.  He had not qualified what kind of hunter, but now Cashiel was curious.  What was a hunter doing at the pub with a rowdy crew of roustabouts from the wharf?  And how did he know the big man, Lars?  The Harbormaster said that the Russian worked at the wharf periodically, is that how he knew the Swede?  Cashiel knew the answers would be interesting and hoped for a lead or an arrest.  

             They pulled up to the address on Alliston Road a little after one in the afternoon.  And as Cashiel and Carter climbed the stairs to the front door, Cashiel did a quick glance at the house's exterior, noting the windows, the path leading to a side door and the widow's walk; each a potential path of escape.  

            A knock on the door brought an older woman who identified herself as Mrs. Elliot.  Cashiel asked to see the Russian, Yuri, and was escorted into the sitting room.

            Alice had waited until her mother left to answer the door before turning to Yuri.

            "Just what were you thinking, Yuri?  Do you know what you've done?  Do you understand the consequences if they discover what you are; what you can do?  This isn't China!"

            Yuri stood and moved across the room, distancing himself from Alice.  His expression was one of concern but quickly changed to cocky self-assurance as he said, "Let them wonder!  They do not know who it was.  They do not know it was me!"

            "And do you think they won't look?"  Alice rose and crossed the sitting room.  She reached out and took his hand, holding the calloused hand in her soft one.  "Yuri, I – I don't know what to say to Mother," she said while biting her lower lip.  "Imagine trying to explain Death Emperor to the police?"

            Behind them a police constable entered the room following Mrs. Elliot.  

            "Yes, why don't you explain, Mr. Yuri," Cashiel said.  He didn't expect an answer; did it more to startle the young man into making a mistake.   'And what is this Emperor the girl referred to?'

            "Explain what?" the tall young man turned to look at the officer;.  Cashiel, in his usual grey overcoat and dark slacks, looked nothing like a policeman.  Yuri looked the man up and down before deciding that he was harmless.

            "Alice, Yuri, this is Captain Cashiel.  He is here to ask **you** some questions," Mrs. Elliot said stiffly, indicating Yuri.

            Yuri's head swiveled from Mrs. Elliot to Cashiel and back.   'What the --' Yuri thought. 

            "I don't know what you mean?" he said to Cashiel.  "What are you askin' about?"

            "What do you know of a man named Lars Sveningsen?" he asked, point blank.

            Yuri looked surprised.  "You know him?  I have seen him around.  We work at the docks now and again."

            "Did you see him last night?"

            Yuri looked back at Alice before turning again to Cashiel.

            "Yeah, we had a few drinks.  I got drunk; I came home."

            "And then what?  See anything unusual around the pub?"

            Yuri took a step back, crossed his arms on his chest and eyed the Captain carefully.  Beside him, Alice noticed Yuri was putting on his belligerent coat and touched his left elbow.

            "Yuri, just tell him the truth.  No one is angry that you got drunk."

            He looked down at Alice but only for a moment before turning back to Cashiel.  "I was drunk.  What was I supposed ta see?"

            "When did you leave the pub?  Did anyone see you leave?"

            Yuri frowned, about to give a flippant answer when he felt Alice's cool fingers touch his.  

            "Um, I'm not sure.  I vaguely remember Bart taking me to the toilet and waking up in th' alleyway.  But that's all.  It was dark and foggy.  I didn't see anyone."

            "What about the Swede?  Did you see him when he left; or in the alleyway?"

            Yuri shook his head.  "No.  Like I say, I was pissed.  I did not see anyone.  Not until I got home."

            "What time was that?"

            Yuri shrugged.  "I dunno; don't remember."

            "It was somewhat after midnight I think," Alice offered.

            "And you left the pub when?" 

            Yuri shrugged again.  "Don't know.  I was pissed."

            "How did you get home?"

            Yuri scowled again, and shrugged off Alice's fingers.  He gestured with one arm, indicating the two officers standing behind Cashiel.

            "Are you accusing me of somethin', Captain?  'Cause I didn't do nothin'.  I got drunk.  I walked home.  It was dark; foggy.  That's all!"

            "Did you talk to anyone after you left the pub?  Or see anyone on the streets?"

            "Captain, is something wrong?" Alice finally interjected.  "Why are you asking so many questions?"

            "There was a murder last night, Miss," Cashiel volunteered never once turning in her direction.

            Alice was startled, her eyes growing wide with distress as one hand covered her mouth.  Yuri scowled even deeper, a low growl coming from his throat; he took a step toward the captain his fists clenched.  

            "And you t'ink I did this murder?" he asked angrily.

            "I simply need to corroborate witness accounts that place you in the area at the time."

            "I am not a murderer!" Yuri shouted.  

            "I didn't say you were," Cashiel replied calmly.  "There were several accounts last night of some creature in the area that could very well have committed the crime.  Did you see any signs of this creature?"

            Now Yuri was startled and he stepped back again, suddenly cautious. 

            "N-no," he stammered.  "Well, I don't think so," he said.  

            "Do you think this creature killed the other man, Captain?" Alice asked.

            "I don't know Miss.  But it certainly looks that way."

            "Yuri's the one you are looking for, Captain," Mrs. Elliot said quietly.  "He is the monster from the paper."

            "What?!?"  Yuri shouted, and turned toward the Reverend Misses.  "You bitch!  What are you saying?"

            Alice herself was startled by her mother's confession and then all hell broke loose.

            Yuri kicked a chair out of his way as he tried to push past Cashiel and his officers while Mrs. Elliot screamed.  One officer pulled his baton and raised it to deter the young Russian even as Cashiel tried to tackle him.  But Yuri was stronger than they expected and was able to shove his way through, pushing past the man with the baton, grabbing his arm and twisting it aside even as he removed the weapon from his numb fingers.  Then Yuri was out the door, running down the street.  It only took a few seconds but Alice Elliot too was out the door with the constables soon following, the shrill sound of their whistles echoing in the streets.  

            Yuri ran pell-mell down Alliston Road, crossing Charlbert and heading for Prince Albert Road and Regent's Park.  He knew if he could get that far he could hide from the constables until they gave up before making his way to the docks and maybe board a ship outbound.  As his feet pounded on the roadway his mind kept hounding him with one question, 'why'.  Why had Mrs. Elliot told the captain he was the monster in the picture?  Why would she betray him that way?  Did she hate him that much?  And had Alice too decided that he was better off chained in some prison far away?  

            'No,' he thought.  'Alice would never do that; she's too kind; too caring.  No, it has to be her mother.  But what did I do?'  The question was not answered as he skidded to a stop at Prince Albert Road, a mere two hundred yards ahead of the pursuing constables.  Across the road Regent's Park beckoned with its rolling man-made hills, its trees, the zoological park, and the Queen's gardens.  Somewhere Yuri felt he could find a place to hide.

            Behind him the shrill whistles continued and as he looked up the road to his left he could see more officers running while to his right, approaching from Wellington was a police car and a pair of mounted officers were riding across from the park; he was surrounded.  

            A small frown creased his brow and he grinned. 'Just like in China,' he thought and barreled forward, shoulders hunched as he came up under one of the horses as they pulled up in front of him.  One rider struck down with his crop but only connected to Yuri's hunched back as the harmonixer slipped under the horse and gave the mount a good shoulder to the stomach.  The horse shied away, freeing Yuri from the confines of his underside and Yuri then turned to grab the officer's on-side stirrup and his leg as well.  With a grunt Yuri heaved and sent the constable flying off the other side of the horse.  He then tried to mount the horse but the other officer used his crop to beat him down, pushing his mount forward to dislodge Yuri's hold on the saddle.  Forced back to the ground Yuri turned to flee into the park but by now the pursuing officers had caught up and several were outflanking him, pushing him back toward the approaching Captain Cashiel and Alice. 

            Stymied, the young harmonixer turned to fight, his bare fists connecting with first one man's shoulder, punching him back then sliding across another's chin.  There was a crack as the jaw broke and Yuri followed up with a side kick that connected with the officer's neck and sent him crashing to the ground.  Another officer leapt and landed on Yuri's shoulders, his arms wrapped around the fighter's upper arms, while another came at him with a baton.  The baton wielder got in a good jab to Yuri's midsection before Yuri spun around and used the straining man on his shoulders as a weapon, slamming his flying feet into the baton wielder's head.  Spinning back, he continued to use the man on his shoulders as a weapon until finally shaking loose the constable's grip he tore loose and, as the officer slid off, turned quickly and punched him in the face.  Blood splattered as the man's nose was crushed under Yuri's fist and the officer screamed in pain.  

            By now the rest of the constables responding to the whistle had arrived and Yuri was outnumbered ten to one.  He realized he had no chance against so many, even with the five he had taken down out of the way, and there was still the horseman as well. With a growl he turned to flee into the park.  But Alice had arrived with Captain Cashiel and he could hear her shouting, her thin high pitched voice carrying over the loud sounds of the pursuing officers and the remaining horseman.  

            "Yuri, no!  Stop!  Please stop!" she shouted.

            Yuri hesitated for a moment, turning to look back at the woman he loved and the look in her eyes made him pause.  The sudden onrush of the remaining officers brought him to his knees, and he began to renew his struggle, punching and butting anyone he could.

            "Yuri, please!  Stop fighting.  Don't fight them!" Alice called as she ran across the street to get closer.

            Again he hesitated, and against his judgement, stopped fighting.  Instantly there was a baton across his head, another punching him in the gut and he was now face down in the grass as half a dozen men landed on him, forcing him to surrender.  He stopped struggling, letting them do their worst before he felt his arms pinioned against his back and cuffs cutting into his wrists.  Finally the officers got off him and brought him up to his knees to face Captain Cashiel.  Bloodied, Yuri looked up at the police captain, a glint of defiance still in his eyes.

            "Yuri Hyuga, I am detaining you for the murder of Lars Sveningsen," Cashiel said and suddenly fear replaced defiance in Yuri's eyes.

            "No," he breathed as the officers pulled him to his feet.  "No!"

            Alice watched as they dragged Yuri to the police car, Yuri's shoulders hunched and his head down.  The look he had given her as they took him away gave her such pain.  He was afraid.  Alice had never seen that look in his eyes before; not even when they fought against god.  The closest she had ever seen that look of fear was when he lost to the Seraphic Radiance in China.  As they pulled Yuri into the car, Alice approached the police captain.

            "Please, don't hurt him, Captain.  He didn't kill that man, I am sure," she said softly.

            "That may be, Miss.  We'll see.  However, you'd best arrange for a barrister.  He'll need one."

            Alice nodded and watched as the car pulled away, followed by Captain Cashiel's car.  It would be a long walk back up to Alliston Road and Alice had a lot to think about.


	5. Harmonixer Stew

Chapter 5: Harmonixer Stew

I survived the holidays; I hope you all did too.  As a reward, Chapter 5.

Disclaimer: Don't own Shadow Hearts.  Own a Persian cat … want him?  

WARNING!  Graphic violence, police brutality, adult language, and really bad French. It is rated "R" after all! 

And a special _"Thank You"_ goes to AriesCelestial (_Shadow Souls_) who let me borrow the idea that Yuri is a doodler.

            "Mother," Alice said with a sigh, "we've discussed this all night.  You are angry at Yuri. I can understand that.  But blaming **him** for not telling you he's a harmonixer ... that just isn't right. I'm the one you should be angry with.  **I'm **the one who should have told you; but frankly, it never came up."

            Alice sat at the kitchen table, her head resting in her hands.  She had walked back to her mother's home on Alliston Road from Regency Park and all the long way going over in her mind what had happened that day.   She and her mother had been awakened at around midnight with the arrival of a drunken Yuri fused to Death Emperor.  Alice had seen the Darkness class fusion soul several times on their travels through China and Europe and so was well used to the evil visage of the fusion.  But her mother was quite another matter.  Her mother, once she'd gotten over her shock, had used Alice's book to bash Death Emperor in the head and causing Yuri to lose the fusion.  Yuri promptly threw up on her feet and her mother was instantly furious.  Yuri had been locked in his room to sleep it off while she and her mother had retired downstairs for a night of arguments.

            "Why didn't you tell me he was a monster?" Mrs. Elliot had demanded as soon as her daughter had entered the sitting room.

            "_Mother!_  Yuri is not a monster!  He's a Harmonixer; a fusionist.  And he uses his power to help people; to protect me!" Alice had been quick to defend her fiancé to no avail.

            "He's still a monster," Mrs. Elliot had insisted.  "God did not give man the power to consort with the souls of demons and monsters; it is of Satan, as well you know."

            "Mother _please_," Alice had begged.  But the argument had continued.  First, accusations of Yuri consorting with demons and monstrosities, then the corruption of her own soul by her dalliances with the young man; it escalated until Alice could no longer stand the vituperative arguments.

            "Mother, stop it!  Yuri is a good man!  He saved my life from the Japanese; he rescued me from the warlock Simon and from Dehuai.  If not for him, I would be dead.  If not for him, we would ALL be dead!" she shouted.

            Startled by her daughter's sudden vehemence, Mrs. Elliot paused.  

            "All right, prove to me he didn't lie," she said.  "Prove his protection.  What did he do?"

            Alice sighed. "Well it started with Albert Simon and his accomplice in China, a sorcerer named Dehuai.  Oh, and Yuri's father, Colonel Ben Hyuga..."

            By the time the sun had risen Mrs. Elliot had heard more than enough to know her daughter was smitten with a devil in man's clothing.  But she loved her daughter and would do anything to protect her, even if from the man she loved; or the man who had influence over her.  True the young man had a tragic past, being born of a monster like his father and then left for dead.  But regardless of the circumstances of his life, he was still a danger to Alice; he would continue to lead her into dangerous situations with his reckless attitude and, this she fervently believed, there was no way that Yuri Hyuga or anyone else had killed God.  It was blasphemous, and heretical! 

            When the morning paper arrived her deepest fears were confirmed yet again with the sketch of that monstrosity that had entered from the upstairs window displayed prominently on page one.  Mrs. Elliot took air for round two and Alice sighed, praying that Yuri would stay asleep through all this upset; which he did.  When Yuri did finally join them and the police arrived, it had startled her deeply to hear her mother accuse Yuri in front of the officers.  She admitted that Yuri was the monster from the paper, and now he was imprisoned with the accusations of murder on his head.  There was little she could do to stem the tide of a murder investigation; little she could do to stop her mother's accusations.  But Alice did know someone who could assist at least with Yuri's problem.  

            By evening, Yuri's problem had escalated.  He had been relieved of his coat, belts, personal items and the cuffs placed back on his wrists as he was lead to a holding cell; this had not been without ensuing struggles by the fusionist and Captain Cashiel had warned them to keep him isolated and away from the other prisoners and so his cell was a small dark hole in a recess of an old retaining wall in the oldest part of the city jail.  Yuri sat on a small cot that had been placed against one wall and contemplated his condition.  He groaned when he thought of what was to happen to him; how first Mrs. Elliot and then Alice had betrayed him.

            'No, she didn't betray me,' he thought miserably.  'But why did she tell me to stop?  Why?'   His thoughts ran in a confusing circle until the clang of his cell door opening brought him to his feet.  

            Entering the cell were half a dozen men whom he did not know, but the guard was behind them so their visit was expected.  That's when it hit him; this was the visit of revenge for those men whom he had injured earlier today.  A small smile quirked one corner of his mouth; he was well familiar with this ritual.

            "Ah, so you've come to set matters straight, eh?" he said quietly.  "But such brave and strong men that it takes six of you!"  

            His taunt was met with action as he was quickly grabbed and slammed face first into the cell wall; hard fists pounded into his side and lower back, aiming for his kidneys.  When those fists stopped he was turned around, his hands still cuffed behind him and more fists met his midsection.  Finally some enterprising individual passed along a baton and the next sounds Yuri heard were the heavy breathing of the men as they beat him nearly senseless.  Finally the guard called them off.

            "He's no good to the Captain if he's dead," the man said and the six slowly left the cell, each offering one final kick to the harmonixer now huddled on the cold cell floor.

            Yuri no longer cared.  He heard the turning of the key in the lock, the sound reminiscent of the clink of chains, his own moans an echo of those earlier cries of pain and his mind traveled back to that other time when such a ritual had been played out with him as the central actor.

            The winter of 1909 was the most severe of the last decade.  Yuri Hyuga, age 20, had spent the past two years and this past summer charming, stealing and fighting his way across northern China and up into Siberia.  He kicked around Evenki and then headed southwest making his way up the mountains toward Krasnoyarsk.  Along the way he took odd jobs as day labor when they were available, stole when they were not, but mostly he advertised himself as a monster hunter.

            He had picked up a set of fighting gloves in Port Arthur some while back and had spent the last few years remembering the lessons his missing father had taught him. He was stronger now than he had been just a few years ago, and his traveling had given him an education he had lacked before; not that his reading and writing had improved, but his languages were many and varied.  He found he was quick to pick up the various tongues spoken throughout northern and central China, and the multitude of dialects available in Russia as well.  And he had grown confident in his fighting skills, while developing his own style of fighting.

            When he encountered a beast or a monster he did not hesitate to attack it; and each time he slew a monster he counted it as a victory against those who had killed his mother while he had watched in helplessness.  He enjoyed the feel of muscles straining as he punched or kicked the life out of some creature of hell, and he especially liked the blood.  It fascinated him.  The pain he inflicted on these creatures fed his soul.

            By the time Christmas arrived, Yuri found himself snowbound in Divnogorsk.  He had made it as far as the mountain pass below Krasnoyarsk when the snowstorm dropped out of the arctic wastes and he found himself begging a room at the local roadside outside of Divnogorsk.  However he had come too late and the rooms were all taken, but he could sleep out in the stables with the horses.  That suited Yuri well and he bought a bowl of stew and a round of bread and pushed his way to the fire to thaw out.  He had not obtained sufficient monies to purchase winter clothing and his fur was of the poorest kind; he needed thicker boots and gloves too but had not thought to plan for such things when the weather had been so warm that summer.  Now he was mentally kicking himself but knew he'd remember next time!  After eating he joined some of the men in a game of dice, adding only a little to the small pile of coins in his purse. 

            Finally he left the public room and headed for the stable, his pack in his hand.  He didn't have much in the way of personal property, traveling light with only a small travel bag that he usually wore slung over his shoulder.  Inside he kept his fighting gloves, a blanket, any spare food he'd managed to obtain, and his 'nothings', these were little scraps of paper with drawings or sketches on them.

            He had started his 'nothings' one day when he was fifteen.  He had stopped in Tientsin, and had taken a job from an elder Manchu and, as the old man had little to pay him with, he offered to help Yuri improve his reading and writing.  Yuri's concentration was minimal, often daydreaming instead of practicing his calligraphy, which is how he discovered his doodling.  Figures jumped out at him from the Chinese characters and he was more interested in exploring those than what the letters meant.  Later, as he began to draw more and more often and with greater detail he had thought of getting a little notebook or sketch book, but kept putting it off as they were rare and expensive.  But if he found a scrap of paper he would cover every inch with doodles; animals he had seen, monsters he had fought and always, always a fox.  And that one monster that always haunted his dreams; that too he drew in frightening detail.

            Tossing his pack into the hay loft he climbed up and, with one foot, shoved loose strands of hay and straw into one corner.  Then, wrapping up in his one blanket, he burrowed into the hay to sleep.  Some time in the night he was joined by others who did not have rooms at the wayside and the loft grew warmer with the combined body heat.  Yuri didn't notice, he was lost in dreams.

            The sun was setting beyond the hill in his dream.  It was always setting.  There was haze in the eastern sky behind him, hiding the little house that he lived in.  On the hilltop was a lone tree and beside the tree stood the man.  The man always wore a green army coat; and a fox mask.  Yuri trembled in his dream, fear gripping him as he approached the tree and the waiting man.  Then the man would turn and scarlet eyes would stare out at him from behind the mask; eyes that glowed with ambient hatred and disgust.  Yuri would always try to turn away but the man would speak and he would freeze in his steps, limbs suddenly locked ridged and his whole body trembling now with the man's words of derision and contempt.  And then the hill would darken, the sun setting into the night and the tree would melt and fade, changing to a grave marker in a graveyard.  A symbol was carved on the marker instead of a name and Yuri would stare at it, fear gripping his heart as the fox masked man would also fade and be replaced by a monster.  The creature was tall and thin with bat-like wings rising from his back and a dark visage from out of hell.  Yuri knew hell intimately; he saw it every time he slept, heard it in the voice of the fox masked man.  The creature descended from the gravestone and reached out with one long-fingered claw that dwarfed Yuri's face, gripping his head in his hand and then...

            Yuri awoke screaming.  He kicked the straw and blanket away and ran, forgetting he was in the loft and crashed over the edge to sprawl ungracefully in the dirt below.  Miraculously he was unhurt if not embarrassed as he awoke fully, realizing what he had done.  Climbing back up to the loft he apologized to the few men he had awakened with his screams and buried himself back in the hay.  Morning could not come soon enough now, and he lay shivering with more than cold.

            It would be another four days before the weather broke enough for Yuri to continue his travels.  By then the meager coins he had in his purse were spent and he had to leave, snow or no snow.  He set out as the brooding clouds began to shred with the new northern wind at mid-morning, making his way south along the river.  A handful of other travelers also left that day and Yuri thought nothing of them as he walked.  Ice and deep snow drifts bared his way in many places along the trail and he found that he traveled easier once he moved under the canopy of the forest.  The woods were not deep, though filled with tall trees and dead limbs; a frosty mist clung to the upper branches, looking like wispy cotton balls, and the snow had drifted up the sides of many of the trees.  By nightfall he had barely made ten miles and was wishing he'd had more money for the inn.  However, there was nothing he could do so he pulled his blanket from his pack and wrapped it around himself and huddled down into a snow bank, hoping not to freeze before daylight.

            The morning arrived with the cracking of ice and a bitter north wind that sent shivers running down Yuri's entire body.  He stood beneath an old bare oak whose branches wore more hoar than bark and watched the lowered clouds shred and rip as the wind tore them to pieces.  Little bits of grey-blue sky peeped out and Yuri shuddered; even though it meant no new snow, the wind and clearing skies meant temperatures would drop even further.  Yuri had no hope if he didn't make it to a town before nightfall.  He began to run, a ground covering lope that would hopefully bring him to the headwaters of Chernogorsk Lake.  With any luck he would find an ice-fisherman or a fur-hunter and beg or barter a ride.  If not then his chances of surviving a sub-zero night without furs was nil.

            By noon he crested another pass that overlooked yet another valley and more snow.  He shuddered, pulling the blanket closer and looked out at clear blue sky.

            "Damn!" he muttered.  "What devil did I piss off this time?"  As he descended the valley he failed to note the shadow on his trail.  It too loped silently in the snows, its black and white mottled coat making it difficult to see.

            Yuri made the next valley by mid-afternoon and stopped to rest.  He tried digging up some roots beneath the forest floor, but nothing, not even his knife, would pierce the ice-hardened surface.  Content to stuff a handful of snow in his mouth, Yuri lie on the snow, his eyes closed for a few minutes.  His breathing slowed and for a moment he dozed off, the dead silence of the forest lulling him.  But then he heard the crunch of snow and his eyes opened just as a shadow passed over him.

            He jumped up, snapping his blanket at the shape that was bending over him, startling it, and giving him time to move away.  The intruder was taller than Yuri, standing nearly six feet, with long fur and a face like a wolf and it carried a whip in one clawed hand.  Yuri's startled yelp echoed in the silent forest and he turned to flee, hearing the crunch of iced snow as the creature followed on his heels.  

            Yuri's heart was beating hard in his throat as he ran.

            'A leshii.  God damn!  A leshii.  I pissed off a leshii.  I'm fucked.  I am dead and I am fucked!' his mind screamed at him as he ran pell-mell the last few hundred yards before reaching the trail up the next mountain.  With any luck the leshii would stop at the forest's edge, the forest being his home and his territory, and Yuri was praying furiously to Buddha, God, and Satan that would be the case.  Not pausing to check on his pursuer, Yuri began to climb the trail out of the forest.  He had made the first crest of rocks when a loud crack sounded, echoing along the ridgeline and he felt something brush past his shoulder.  Looking, he saw the remnants of his blanket shredding away with the wind and he turned in time to see the long black length of the leshii's whip as he swung it back for a second strike.

            "Fuck!  What are you doing?  I'm leaving, isn't that enough?"

            The leshii didn't answer, instead swinging the whip again, sending it lashing out at the startled harmonixer, catching him by the leg and pulling him down.  

            Yuri tried to pull the whip free of his pants leg but before he could get it more than loosened the shadow of the leshii stood above him.  Looking up into the glowing eyes of the vengeful forest lord, Yuri wondered what he had done wrong now.  In the next instant a massive fist crashed into his face, forcing his head back to smash into the rocks, unconscious.

            When Yuri awoke it was to pain and confusion.  He was lying on the ground, a fur covering him but he could not move.  Wiggling his hands and feet he found that they were bound.  Confusion warred with the pain in his head as he opened his eyes and looked around; there was a camp fire burning low just a few feet away and a horse tethered at a copse just beyond, and in the shadows was the leshii.  Yuri struggled to free himself and escape but the movement caught the leshii's attention and he approached, whip in hand.

            "Stop," the leshii said, his voice firm.

            Yuri ceased his struggles and looked up at the wolfen faced leshii.  Looking again he wondered why he thought it was a leshii.  Black and white mottled fur, wolf faced, claw handed; but the wolf face was a hood, the fur was a long furred coat and the claws were gloves.  It was a man.

            "Who're you?  Why are you doing this?"

            "Shut up Ivanovich.  You're a meal ticket, but that doesn't mean I won't beat shit outta you," the man growled.

            "Ivanovich?"  Yuri muttered then his eyes widened.  His reputation had caught up to him.  He hadn't used the name in almost two years, not since the series of thefts he'd committed in Novgorod.  He had gotten involved in a plan to steal some of the Tsar's regalia on display in Novgorod's museum.  It wasn't something he cared about one way or the other, but the challenge of it intrigued him.  He knew he had the skills and with his monster he could get in and out better than any ordinary thief.  He hadn't intended to get caught or even seen, but it hadn't worked out quite that simply.  He **had **been seen; he was identified by people whom he had met, and the authorities began searching for him.  Yuri Ivanovich quickly ceased to exist and Yuri Hyuga returned.  

            "This is about Novgorod, yes?"

            The man reached down and cuffed Yuri across the face.  

            "I said shut up!"  

            Yuri licked at the blood that dribbled down his chin from the cuffing and watched as the man pulled meat from the fire.  He sat and ate while the tantalizing aroma a meat tickled Yuri's nose.

            "Any chance of some o' that for me?" he asked quietly, but the man ignored him.  Yuri sighed and sniffed the air, imagining the taste as the meat slid down his throat; the texture as his teeth chewed.  His stomach growled anyway, reminding him that food had been a long while back.

            Later, after the man had finished eating, he banked the fire and, grabbing Yuri from beneath the fur, ran a chain around a nearby tree, and secured him to it.  Yuri was about to protest when the man threw a fur over him.

            "You shut up and behave or you freeze, understand?" 

            Yuri nodded and silently offered a prayer of thanks to whatever devil had decided to offer him mercy; he might be hungry but at least he wouldn't freeze.

            If anyone asked Yuri what he remembered of the following week he could only offer one word: exhaustion.  The man rode the horse and pulled Yuri along behind on a long tether, forcing the young harmonixer to run or be dragged.  In addition, if he gave the man any trouble, so much as a spoken word, he would go without food.  Yuri quickly decided that food, fur, and silence were a good combination.  And by the end of the week they arrived at Novosibirsk.  

            Yuri had not known what to expect.  He knew from things he had heard over the years that Russian justice was swift and brutal.  If he had expected a trial, he was mistaken; he was condemned to death in absentia, and upon arriving at the court, was immediately thrown in jail.  The last sounds he heard for a week was the clanging of the doors and the moans of the other prisoners.  Soon, his own moans would be added.  

            Less than two days into waiting Yuri was visited by the guards.  They had visited each cell in turn and Yuri got a preview of the coming attractions.  By the time they reached him he was ready to fight to the death, but they didn't give him the opportunity.  They out-numbered him, they had chains, they had prods, and they used them.  When they were finished they left him hanging by his arms from the cross-bars in the ceiling, a steady drip of blood an accompaniment to his moans.

            After a week of waiting he was brought out and added to a line of chained men who were going to prison.  The chief advocate of the courts read out a sentence of leniency issued by His Excellency Tsar Nicholas II of Russia.  Each man was condemned to life imprisonment; sentences to be served in the prison work forces scattered throughout Siberia.  One man went instantly insane; others protested and screamed, saying they would rather be shot.  Yuri was in too much shock.  

            Another forced march began and another week of traveling in the icy wastes, heading north toward the work camps in Tomsk.  But by the time the work force arrived at the camps, Yuri had a plan.  He had to bide his time, a long wait of nearly three months, but by the end of it he was free and fleeing for his life south, to China.

            Yuri's first interrogation by Captain Cashiel was early the next morning.  When he was handed over to Lieutenant Carter, he still wore blood on his face and the signs of his beating were evident with bruises and one swollen eye.  Carter pulled him into a nearby washroom and dragged a wet towel over face before guiding him into the interrogation room.  Waiting was Captain Cashiel, a stenographer and Brittey.  Yuri only knew Cashiel and instantly watched him, his eyes never leaving the captain's face. 

            Carter stood him at the end of a table and then whispered a few words into Cashiel's ear.  Yuri heard a brief question and then instructions about the guard and permanent records.  A little smirk threatened to join the bruises on his face but he quickly swallowed it when Cashiel turned to look at him.

            "Yuri Hyuga, you've been detained pending the investigation of your involvement in the murder of Lars Sveningsen.  Witnesses have stated that you are the monster seen in the area that night."  Cashiel paused and pulled a folder across the table and opened it, lifting a few pages as he read.  "Are you the monster, Mr. Hyuga?"

            "I did not kill that man, Captain.  But I cannot prove it," Yuri said softly.

            "I didn't ask that.  But I'll accept that for now.  Where was Sveningsen when you last saw him?"

            Yuri shrugged as best he could through the handcuffs, and then winced with pain.  "In the pub; I got up to take a piss and passed out.  He was there when Bart took me out to the alley a few minutes later.  I dunno what he did after that.  I was passed out in the alley."

            "Did you see anyone when you awoke?"

            Yuri shook his head.  "No.  It was dark and foggy.  I went to the street and got sick.  Then I tried to cross th' bridge."

            "Which bridge?"

            "Blackfriars; I take it every time.  I don't remember seeing anyone; but it was foggy and I was really pissed.  I mean, drunk."

            "Where did you go after crossing the bridge?"

            "Well, I had trouble crossing Captain. I – the ground kept moving.  But I think I remember a park.  I dunno.  Then a lot of screaming people and lights; near a train station I think."

            "That would be Paddington," the man Brittey commented.  "He _is_ the monster!"

            "Shut up, Brittey," Lieutenant Carter said.  

            "Did you see any monsters while you were out there, Hyuga?" 

            Yuri shook his head again.  "No –" he looked up at Cashiel and knew that they didn't believe him, that they could see he was lying.  

            "Are you the monster we're looking for Hyuga; the one doing the killing?"

            "No!  I didn't kill anyone, I swear!  But – but I cannot prove it."

            Cashiel stared at his prisoner for a moment before nodding toward Carter.  The lieutenant took Yuri by the arm and led him toward the door.

            "So Captain," Yuri turned to look at Cashiel as the door was opened.  "When does the _real_ interrogation begin?"

            Cashiel stared at the young Russian for a full minute before a frown creased his brow. 

            "This is Britain, not Russia," was all he said, and Yuri was taken back to his cell.

            "He's the monster, Captain.  You know that!" Brittey said to Cashiel after Yuri was gone.  

            "Maybe.  But he doesn't have to admit it now, does he Brittey?  If I were him, I wouldn't.  His family turned him in.  He's got to be hurting from that.  Let's just let him stew for a while.  We've got a little time left.  See if he cracks."

            Brittey nodded.  "I would dearly love to know if he had something to do with the other killings as well," the little scholar said wistfully.

            Cashiel turned a critical eye on the little man.

            "They don't have any bearing on this case, Brittey.  I'm only interested in the bodies I've got, not in ones I don't have.  But I'll admit I'd like to know the answers too; just not right now."

            Alice Elliot opened the front door of her mother's home and stood aghast at the woman standing in front of her.  She had been expecting Margarete, but this was not her.  A little taller than Alice, this woman had long red hair, green eyes and, when she spoke, it was with the thick accent of French.

            "May I help you?" Alice asked.

            "Mais oui. Vous pouvez me laisser à l'intérieur, s'il vous plaît." 

            "But do I know you?" Alice asked, hesitant to let a stranger enter.

            "Bien sûr! Ce m'est, Samantha Margarete Guilbert; votre vieux compagnon qui voyageant."

            "Samantha?  But we have never met."  Alice was confused, but the red-headed woman merely pushed open the door and walked in.

            "Will you let me in before the whole world knows I'm here?" she said in unaccented English and Alice blinked with recognition.  

            "Margarete?  Is that you?"

            Margarete closed the door with a sigh. 

            "Of course!  You asked me to come, didn't you?"

            "But why the disguise?  Why the different name?"

            Margarete took off her net hat and set it aside, along with her coat.  "Because some _fichu stupide vache d'une femme_ is using my name!" she swore as she hung up her coat and shoulder holster on the peg.

            Alice indicated the sitting room and they both entered, Margarete taking a chair that faced the inner door.

            "The stupid cow is a spy!  A horrid, fake Indian dancer and spy; and she is using _my_ name!" Margarete harrumphed and shook her head.  "So I had to make a few changes to get into England.  It's all temporary, but I didn't have time to deal with British Intelligence and Kitchener's been a real bear about illegal entry and such.  There's a war on, you know!"

            Alice giggled, covering her mouth with her hands.

            "I am so glad you're here, Margarete," Alice said with a sigh.  "I don't know what to do for Yuri.  He's been arrested for murder."

            "Murder?"  Margarete's eyebrows raised and she grinned.  "Tell me all the juicy details."

            Two days.  It had been two more days since they had brought him to jail and Yuri now sat on the edge of the cot in his cell.  He'd tried to break free of the restraining cuffs only to discover that the more he pulled the tighter they became.  When he said something to the guard he was told to shut up.  With a sigh he was resigned to waiting; he could do nothing else.  The captain knew he had lied and didn't trust him.  Why else leave the cuffs on?  He was a dangerous monster wasn't he?  He could break out and kill everyone, even the children, couldn't he?  He was a bad man, an evil monster, and he was better off in jail, wasn't he?  

            Thoughts poured through his mind like rain and he wondered what devil he had pissed off this time to be in this situation.  He recalled with painful details his previous time in prison; after escaping that hell he had sworn he would never be put in prison again.  But now, what could he do?  He remembered that his last escape had brought him back to China and his first encounter with 'that damned voice'.

            He had run and run until he could run no further before finally dropping into a ditch and pulling dirt on top of himself to hide.  Fear of recapture had been a powerful motivator in keeping him running but now exhaustion had set in and he could no longer continue.  Falling into fitful sleep, Yuri dreamed of chains, whips and beatings and unremitting hunger, his constant companions of the last three months.  He had not been alone in that hell, but he was the only one to escape.  

            'I'll never go back there,' he swore with each bloody step he took away from the prison work camp.  Bone thin, with clothing no more than rags and rags for his feet, he had escaped the only way he knew how.  Every plan he had made went to nothing as the guards made short work of any resistance.  He had finally endured enough.  On a work detail on the outskirts of town, he fused, tore the head off the guard and stole the keys to the shackles before disembodying and running for his sorry life.  Now, lying in the dirt, shivering in cold and fatigue, Yuri dozed, his misery a shadow play in his dreams.

            He wasn't sure what woke him from his exhausted slumber - possibly someone passing by?  But on looking he could see no one, not even shadows or leshiis.  He listened, his ears straining to hear even a twig breaking, but nothing came on the wind. With a shrug he lay back down and covered up with dirt once more.  As sleep began to take him again he thought he heard a soft voice singing, humming a little lullaby in a language he did not know.  It soothed him and soon he slept.

            When he awoke again it was to full on daylight.  Brushing off the dirt, he began walking again, heading south, ever south.  He ignored any roads knowing that they would only lead to trouble, but he did not pass up the occasional farm.  At these he made small forays for food and a blanket at the first one, clothing and shoes at the second.  He stood a better chance at surviving if he had supplies so he stole them.

            And later that day when he stopped to make a camp, he started his first camp fire with the flints he had stolen from the last farm.  He huddled, wrapped in his blanket, eating dried meat and a wrinkled yam, watching the bright orange and red flames dancing when the voice returned; only this time stronger.  It took him like a knife, cutting into his mind, stabbing him repeatedly with each word, each syllable.  The pain left him panting and shivering on the ground.

            * ..._go Kyzyl ... Tuva... help ...*_

            Yuri pushed himself up onto his elbows and looked around.  The voice had spoken and he understood it, but not what it wanted.  

            'Tuva?' he thought.  'That's south and east of here, toward Mongolia.  And Kyzyl ... is that a town?'  Panting still he climbed to his knees and wrapped the blanket around him again.  'Why would I want to go there?  And what's with the pain alla sudden?'  Confused, he got no answer, but the next day he headed southeast toward Tuva.

            When the guard stepped in to Yuri's cell he found the young man sitting up, his head leaning at an odd angle against the wall sound asleep.  He shook Yuri awake and took him by the arm, handing him over to Lieutenant Carter.  Yuri said not a word, simply following where he was lead until they reached the familiar door of the interrogation room.  Inside again was Captain Cashiel and the strange little man, and --

            "Alice," Yuri breathed and tried to go to his beautiful fiancé but Carter grabbed him back, shoving him into a chair at the end of the table.  Cashiel frowned but said nothing as Yuri craned his neck to look at Alice, who was accompanied by a strange red-headed woman.

            "Hyuga, you are a problem," Cashiel stated and the words brought Yuri around to look at him.  "My commander wants the charges against you to stick; he wants you indicted for murder, and I would like to oblige him."

            Yuri blinked and swallowed, but said nothing.

            "Yuri Hyuga, did you kill the man known as Lars Sveningsen?"

            "No, but I cannot prove that," he answered with a shallow sigh.

            "And are you the monster that witnesses say was in the vicinity of the murder?" Cashiel's eyes bored holes into Yuri and he could almost see the young man squirm.

            "Um," Yuri began then, "I am not a monster.  I am a fusionist. But I did not kill that man.  Or anyone else," he said softly.

            The little scholar, Brittey, sat straight in his chair and looked for all the world, like a terrier with his bone.  Cashiel said nothing but sighed as he opened the folder set on the table before him.  

            "That is a dangerous confession, Hyuga, especially in light of the circumstances," he said finally.

            Yuri made a small shrug.  "Is fusion forbidden here too, Captain?  Am I to go to prison?  Fine, so long as it is for something that _is_ instead of something that is _not_.  I did not kill Lars; I am not a murderer."

            "Do you want to go to prison?"  Cashiel asked.

            Yuri looked up at the police captain, then down at his feet.  "No.  But I have no choice; you have the power here."

            Cashiel did not reply, but looked at the folder's contents in silence. 

            "You are the monster that was sighted near Blackfriars Bridge and again at Paddington Station are you not?"

            Yuri made a moaning sigh.  "Yes.  I was drunk; I could barely walk.  The road, it seemed to move under me.  I used a fusion to get home.  Well," he shrugged, "two actually.  But I tell you, I did not kill anyone!"

            Cashiel nodded, a look of satisfaction briefly crossing his face before he quickly wiped it away.  

            "Unfortunately, I agree with you," Cashiel said and motioned at Carter who returned to Yuri and released the handcuffs.  Yuri slowly shook out his arms and stretched his shoulders, trying to get feeling back into his hands. 

            "Has something happened, Captain?" Alice Elliot asked from her seat at the back of the room.

            Cashiel looked up at the pretty exorcist and sighed.  "There was another murder last night; while you," and he turned to Yuri, "were in our custody; a perfect alibi."

            Yuri sighed in relief.  "I am sorry someone else is dead Captain, but I tol' you.  I - I just cannot prove it."

            "According to Immigration, you entered this country stating you were a hunter, Hyuga.  What kind of hunter?"

            Startled by the change of subject, Yuri looked from Carter to Cashiel.  "I – a monster hunter, or beasts or people if need.  Whatever."

            "People?" Carter asked.  "You're a bounty hunter?"

            "No!  No, not like that, never that.  Lost people; missing people - that kinda thing.  Occasionally bandits, but that was different."

            Alice rose from her chair and joined Yuri at the table, one hand coming to rest on his shoulder.

            "Captain, what does this mean?  Is Yuri free to go?"

            Cashiel tossed the folder onto the table top with a sigh.

            "Yes.  But not yet; I've got a few questions I need answers to and he might provide those answers."

            Yuri did not respond but his eyebrows were raised into his long bangs.

            "My commander thinks these murders are by some horrible, demented madman, and I would like to believe him.  But I don't; I do not believe that a human has done these things.  Do you know how these people died, Hyuga?  How Sveningsen died?"

            Yuri shook his head.  "No, you never said."

            "Their throats were cut, then they were eviscerated; their vital organs removed."

            Alice gasped.  "How horrible!"

            Yuri was shaking his head slowly from side to side.  "I did not do that, I did not."

            "I didn't say you did.  Brittey here," and Cashiel indicated the little scholar sitting beside him, "has presented some interesting evidence to connect these killings with earlier similar cases going back to the late summer of 1914.  He thinks these deaths were caused by a monster or an animal of some kind."

            "A monster, Captain, definitely a monster," Brittey interjected.

            "The summer of 1914?  It began then?  But why has no one said anything?" Alice asked quietly.

            "Incompetence or fear, and the fact that some of the killings were attributed to other events that happened around then - around Aberystwyth Wales." 

            Captain Cashiel was treated to three very startled faces.  Yuri and Alice exchanged almost guilty looks and the redhead who had accompanied Miss Elliot rose and approached the table, her own green eyes wide with understanding.

            "Are you saying that these killings began there?  In Wales?" the red haired French lady asked with nary a trace of French accent.

            Cashiel pulled a cigar from his coat pocket and snipped the tip before putting it in his mouth.

            "Not from France, are ya?" he asked around the cigar.  

            Margarete looked surprised for a moment, forgetting her disguise, and then laughed.

            "Yes and no.  But someone else wears my name right now and I don't need the trouble, Captain."

            "I didn't catch your name." 

            "Samantha Margarete Guilbert.  But you can call me Margarete.  What was that about Wales, Captain?"

            "It's a history lesson best left for another time," Cashiel said quickly, forestalling Brittey who had risen to address the group.

            "But Captain!"

            "Later.  Hyuga, if you're any good at hunting, will you help me find this ... whatever it is that's killing these people?"

            Yuri looked from Cashiel to Brittey and then up at Alice.  Silent communication passed between them and Alice nodded slightly. 

            "Yes.  I will.  But what do I get out of it?" Yuri said.

            "Yuri!" Alice exclaimed.

            "Well he gets his killer; it's only fair!" the young Russian countered.

            "You get to stay in this country, Mr. Hyuga.  You could be deported for less you know," Lieutenant Carter offered.  Cashiel looked up at his supporting officer and nodded.

            "I agree," he said.

            Yuri scowled then sighed.  "I am a marionette again," he grumbled.  "All right, I will help.  But I need to see the bodies if I can."

            "Whatever for, kiddo?" Margarete queried.

            Yuri looked up at the redhead.  "Is that you, Margarete?  What's with the red hair?"

            "Oh, ho-ho, never mind kiddo.  Just answer the question."

            Yuri shrugged.  "I don't know.  Maybe get some idea how the killings are happening.  Maybe what's doing it?"  He looked over at Cashiel.  "Is that all right?"

            Cashiel nodded.  "Carter can make the arraignments."


	6. Man or Monster

Chapter 6:   Man or Monster

Disclaimer: Okay, I really do own Shadow Hearts, I do!  Ooops, oh no, here come the men in white coats.  My bad! 

You know the drill, WARNING!  ADULT SITUATIONS AHEAD!!!!! 

          The coroner was located in the building basement; stairs lead up to the back street where the coroner's wagon waited.  The hall leading down to the morgue itself was dim, a few of the newer electric fixtures missing their light bulbs.  Alice and Margarete followed Yuri and Lieutenant Carter to the far end of the corridor and the examination room where the coroner had set up two metal tables with their cloth covered bodies.  Yuri entered the room with its odor of formaldehyde and death but Alice hesitated at the entrance, the aura of the room setting her nerves to tingling.

          "I-I think I'll wait out here, Margarete," she said and stepped back into the hallway, her face pale.

          Margarete shrugged and joined Yuri who was already pulling back the coverings from the first body.  It was a small woman, about age thirty; she had once been pretty, with her hair short cropped and her eyes, when Yuri pulled up the lids, a rich deep brown.  Her body had been sliced open from collarbone to crotch and the internal organs removed.  She had discoloration from the obvious trauma to her body and marks along both sides of her hips.  Yuri poked and prodded along her slit throat and even bent down slightly to sniff at her.

          "Yuri!" Margarete exclaimed.

          Yuri groaned with evident pain when he stood up again.  "Just checking; she smells like death, nothing more."  Yuri indicated the other body.  "What about that one?" he asked.

          Carter frowned.  "Lars Sveningsen."

          "Oh," Yuri said quietly and pulled the sheet back to reveal Lars' remains.  He showed the same signs of trauma that the woman had as well as the missing organs.   His neck too was slit but there was a tearing along the edge that had Yuri curious.  He bent closer again and sniffed, then poked at the skin; a small seepage left the neck and the coroner stepped closer.

          "I noticed that too; I have no idea what it is though," the man offered.  

          Yuri rubbed his fingers together and sniffed them, his brows meeting as he frowned. 

          "It smells like something …" he looked up at Carter.  "I think I've come across it before but it was," he sighed, "years ago.  I dunno. I'll think about it.  One thing I _can_ say is neither was killed by human or beast."

          "How can you determine that?" Carter asked.

          Yuri signed.  "Well, it's evident if you look.  The woman, she was pretty, no?"  Yuri said with a smile.  "She was split open from neck to tail, the same with Lars.  If I were to do it, even using my claws, I'd start at the bottom and slice up through the gut.  I would need to use my full strength to tear open a human body and cut through the ribcage like that.  These bones were snapped hard; and the pressure pushed them downward."

          The coroner nodded his agreement with Yuri's assessment thus far.  "He's right, Lieutenant."

          "Anything else?" Carter asked.

          "Yup.  I doubt it was a beast; mainly because only the rich meat was taken, which is curious in itself.  If it was an animal, all the meat would have been taken; haunch, breast, and entrails.  But nothing is missing except the innards."

          "So that leaves what exactly?"

          Yuri shrugged slightly, the motion causing him to wince.  "Well, I'd say monster of some sort; not very accurate I know!  But whatever it is I would say it has at least four legs; possibly more.  I think those marks on the woman and …" he did a quick look at Lars as well, "yep he's got 'em too.  These marks could be legs or something holding open the cavity to remove the innards.  I would think that it has two legs to stand and two to hold; leaving smaller appendages or claws of some sort to remove the goodies."

          Margarete had listened and now stepped to look closer at the two bodies.  She gave each a cursory examination before she turned to Yuri.

          "I hate to admit it kiddo, but I think you're right," she said.

          Yuri smirked.  "Of course!  Ya t'ink I'm stupid or something?"

          Margarete chuckled.  "No comment."

          "Lieutenant, I can help to find this thing maybe.  But I gotta tell ya, I need some rest right now.  I hurt like hell and," here he looked back at the door.  "I gotta lot of explainin' to do for Alice's mum."

          Carter nodded.  "I'll tell the Captain.  We'll probably send a car around tomorrow," Carter said then indicated Yuri, "and you better get fixed up."

          Yuri nodded and turned to leave, meeting Alice in the corridor.

          "Can we go now?" she asked.

          "Yup," was all Yuri said.

          Lieutenant Carter had a taxi take Yuri, Alice and Margarete back to Alliston Road.  The trip back was in silence, as Yuri was not looking forward to the confrontation with Alice's mother; he was in too much pain to deal with her.  He simply wanted to go upstairs and lie down but when Alice opened the door to the house, they were greeted by the Reverend Misses.   Yuri moaned slightly at the look on her face.

          "Mother," Alice said and pushed open the door.  "We're back.  The police released Yuri.  It's all right now."  

          If possible, Mrs. Elliot seemed even more disturbed than when Yuri's fusion was revealed. 

          "I – I don't want that monster in this house, Alice," she said.

          The three companions came to a stop in the hallway, Yuri looking longingly at the stairs leading to the bedroom.

          "Mother, not now; we just got back.  The police released Yuri; he did _not_ kill that man.  He didn't kill anyone.  He's innocent.  And he is _not_ a monster!"

          "It's all right Alice," Yuri said softly.  "If I cannot sleep here … do you think they'd let me sleep at that church of yours?  I-I really need to rest."

          Looking back at Yuri, Margarete agreed.  "He's nearly out on his feet," she said and took his arm.  "Come on, kiddo.  Upstairs, you show me your room.  Alice, he might need some first aide, isn't that right Yuri?"  Margarete talked non-stop as she guided him up the stairs and down the hallway.

          "First aide?"  Alice asked.  "Are you hurt?  Wait!" she quickly ran to the cupboard and pulled the box of bandages and ointments out and, before climbing the stairs she turned to her mother, a look of determination in her eyes.

          "Mother, I know you disagree, so I won't argue this with you.  Just listen.  I am old enough to make my own decisions.  I love Yuri and he loves me.  He's going to help the police find the true killer of these people and when he's finished, he and I will be married.  That's my final decision," she said and ran up the stairs.

          Mrs. Elliot chewed her lower lip for a moment, wondering where her daughter had come by such a strong backbone all of a sudden, and then remembered her own determination to marry Morris.  She sighed.

          'Perhaps I have been a bit hard on her,' she thought as she closed the door.  

          Yuri was trying to lie down on the floor in his sparse bedroom while Margarete insisted he take his shirt off when Alice joined them with the first aide kit.

          "God damn it Margarete!  Stop pulling on me!" Yuri cursed and pulled away as the spy yanked hard on his shirt and tore it off.

          "There!  Is that so difficult?" Margarete asked.

          "You tore my shirt!  Damn it woman!" Yuri grabbed the torn garment and turned away but both Alice and Margarete could see the dark bruises on his back and stomach.  

          "They got you good, didn't they?" Margarete commented.

          "Just leave off!" Yuri growled.

          "Yuri, come and sit," Alice tapped the back of the wooden chair that sat against the wall.  "I brought bandages."

          Yuri turned toward her, a caustic remark on his lips that quickly died when he saw Alice's concern worn so plainly on her face.  Her liquid blue eyes were large with worry and he felt bad that his pain was hurting her as well.

          "All right," he said finally and crossed the room to sit on the chair, facing the back.  He felt Alice's cool fingers gently probe the bruises and winced when a particularly sore spot came under investigation.  "I am sorry to be trouble, Alice," he offered with a slight shrug.

          "You're hardly a burden, Yuri.  Who did this to you?" she asked as she smeared ointment on the bruises.

          Yuri shrugged again and muttered something unintelligible.

          "It was the constables at the jail, wasn't it sonny boy," Margarete said, her arms crossed.  "Payback for some alleged slight, isn't that the usual drill?"

          Yuri tisked.  "Well, I did hurt those men who tried to stop me.  It was just the usual ritual; that's all."

          "Usual!" Alice exclaimed.  "From the look of these bruises they used more than their fists; what is so 'usual' about that?" 

          "It's the same usual that allows men in prison to abuse prisoners, Alice.  Nothing new; just something you are not familiar with," Margarete said.

          Alice thought as she finished up the contusions on Yuri's back and side and indicated he should lean back a little so she could use her healing touch on him.  Yuri did just that and shuddered slightly as Alice's fingers probed his bruised and cracked ribs.

          "No, I don't suppose I have been exposed to such things," she finally said.   "But Yuri, you seem to have experienced this before … or seen it done.  Is that so?"

          With a sigh Yuri nodded, the back of his head resting against Alice's warm chest, her cool fingers sending shivers of energy through his chest and down his spine; little electric tingles traveled along his nerves and he could feel the healing begin.  "Yes, that is so.  I – I have been in jail before; even prison.  I swore," he swallowed in remembered pain that matched what he felt this moment, "I swore I'd never go through this again."

          "Then this is my fault for telling you to stop," Alice said softly.  "I am sorry."

          "Why did you?" Yuri said.  "Why did you tell me to stop?" he asked, his eyes closed.  He moaned slightly when Alice moved her hands down his chest, the tingle of her healing magic starting cool then warming as it repaired torn muscles and cracked bones.

          "I – I didn't want to you to get hurt; I mean, where would you go?  What would you do?"

          Yuri sighed.  "I thought maybe stow away and go to Europe.  But I didn't want to leave you.  I don't know.  I didn't think."

          "So what else is new?" Margarete said.

          From the stairs they heard Mrs. Elliot call, telling them food was waiting downstairs.

          "Are you hungry, Yuri?"  Alice asked as she ran her hands one more time over his chest and down his arms.

          "Ha!  When is he not?" Margarete commented with a laugh.

          Yuri was smiling, his head resting against Alice, his face turned slightly so that his cheek rested against her bosom.  Alice looked down and tapped him gently on the head.

          "Food, Yuri," she said with a smile.

          "Soft," he muttered then sat forward.  "Yeah, food."

          Downstairs in the kitchen Mrs. Elliot had set out several plates with sandwiches and cut fruit.  A large pot of tea sat on the tea trolley and, as Margarete and Alice descended the stairs they could smell eggs and bacon as well.  Alice shook her head; the eggs and bacon had to be for Yuri.

          'Is Mother is trying to apologize?' she thought and then heard Yuri's light tread on the stairs behind her.  Looking back she saw he had taken off his shoes and wore only his socks and had put on a different, if not necessarily clean, shirt.  Margarete would have to replace that torn shirt soon as Yuri only had a couple to his name.

          "Mother," Alice said as she joined Margarete at the kitchen table.  The table was smaller than the dinning room table, with barely room for four chairs but the warmth of the kitchen made it comfortable in this late March afternoon.  Alice took a chair on the inside corner and indicated Yuri should sit next to her leaving Margarete and her mother to sit opposite.  But Yuri did not sit.  Instead he stood in the kitchen doorway and watched as Mrs. Elliot poured tea.

          "Reverend Misses," he finally said, "I am sorry.  I shoulda tol' ya I was a harmonixer.  But truly, it didn't come up.  I," he shook his head.  "I don't know what else to say.  If ya don't want me around, I can understand.  I'll leave."  He looked up at the elder Mrs. Elliot and waited for her to respond.

          Mrs. Elliot had thought about this moment while she had made the sandwiches.  As she cracked the eggs and fried the bacon for Yuri she wondered how she had let it get so far ahead of her.  Yuri was right; she hadn't disliked him before, and it seemed that her anger was mostly based on fear.  Fear that the demon face she had bashed with Alice's book would look back at her from her grandchild's cradle.  Superstitious twaddle!  But there it was; she feared the evil that lie in Yuri's soul, and the vile power that he commanded.  And she knew her fear was the fear taught by her church.  But was it real?  Was he the evil demon that he should have been by his very nature?  He had saved Alice's life that was true.  He had also fought against that demon summoning that the warlock Simon had forced on the world.  Did he seek fame and fortune from that confrontation?  No, instead he followed Alice across Europe again to meet her mother.  That hardly seemed the actions of a power-hungry, demented demon.  

          Yuri had entertained her from the beginning with his wildly different way of looking at the world; his childlike innocence about Western culture and mores.  His language had been fraught with expletives that he tried to control for Alice's sake and his excruciatingly sexual antics around Alice also bordered on the insolent.  But deep down, he had been nothing if not polite, caring and generous. He had escorted them and kept them safe on their trip to England.  And his hard earned money had been donated to the upkeep and repairs of _her_ home instead of being used for his own desires.  

          Mrs. Elliot sighed as she brewed the tea, spooning in the China Oolong that Yuri loved.  There were so many things that she didn't know about him as a man; the sheer mystery that sent her nerves jangling when some unknown came into play.  But perhaps she was misreading him.  Perhaps she was overreacting; perhaps.  And Alice's confession of fidelity in spite of everything touched deeply in her breast.  She would not stand against her daughter's happiness as her own parents had stood against hers.  

          Placing the food on warm plates on the table, she had called the others down to lunch, and her personal effort to make amends to the young man who was soon to be her son-in-law.

          "No, Yuri.  I don't want you to leave.  I - may have been overreacting before," she said as she poured the last cup of tea.

          Yuri sat next to Alice and offered her a gentle kiss on her forehead.  "Xiè xiè nin -thank you for healing me, Alice.  I feel better," he said before tucking into the eggs and bacon. 

          Conversation was lacking as Mrs. Elliot and the three put away the food, Yuri finishing his eggs and snagging a sandwich.  He picked up a piece of fruit and offered a bite to Alice, who giggled as she accepted.   But finally, the food was gone and the tea was mere dregs and Yuri got up to help with the dishes.

          "No, no, I've got them Yuri.  You need to sleep if you're going to help the Captain tomorrow," Alice said.

          "Well, all right.  But there is something I need to say, to both you and your mother."  He looked up at Mrs. Elliot and sighed.  "I know we had our troubles 'cause I was not honest with you.  There is one thing that you need to know that I haven't told anyone; not even Alice."

          "Yuri ..." Alice started to interrupt, but Yuri stopped her.

          "No, let me say this.  That way it's out in the open.  I have done bad things, Reverend Misses and I have been to jail and to prison.  The prison was for being stupid.  I have not done that again, and I don't want to; just so as you know."  He waited for Mrs. Elliot's response but when she didn't give him one he turned and left the kitchen.

          Mrs. Elliot dried while Alice washed the dishes and pondered the confession.  

          "Just what is he confessing to, Alice?" she finally asked.

          "I'm not sure.  He said he had been to jail a few times.  And that he had sworn never to return to prison.  I don't know what he did.  But I don't believe that he did anything horrible, Mother.  It's not in him to do that sort of thing."

          Margarete, sitting at the table behind them snorted. "Alice, you are way too gullible," she said.

          Alice stomped her foot.  "Unless you can prove he did something wrong, Margarete, then I don't want to hear it!" 

          "Okay, okay," Margarete said with a chuckle.  "God forbid I should get between you two.  I was just saying, that's all."

          Later that night, after Margarete, Alice and Mrs. Elliot had retired they were awakened by screams coming from Yuri's room.  Mrs. Elliot and Alice both hurried down the hall, Alice opening the door to find Yuri thrashing on the floor.  She quickly knelt at his side, grasping one arm as it was flung up to ward off some attacking nightmare, and called his name.  Yuri continued to struggle, a strangled moan escaping his tightly clenched jaw before he suddenly went limp, his breathing still rapid.  Slowly he opened amber eyes and looked blearily at Alice, kneeling at his side, a fluffy white robe tied loosely at her waist.

          "Alice?" he asked, confused.

          "Yuri," Alice said softly.  "Are you all right? You were having a nightmare."

          Yuri looked over at the doorway, seeing Mrs. Elliot's concerned face, and then sat up, rubbing at his eyes.

          "'m okay; just a bad dream I guess," he mumbled.

          Alice sat back on her heels, still holding Yuri's hand.  "It's been a while since you had any.  Is anything wrong?  What's bothering you?"

          With his free hand, Yuri rubbed the back of his neck.  "Well, I've had 'em I guess I just didn't let you hear 'em," he chuckled.  "Sorry to wake you."  He looked up at the doorway again, but Mrs. Elliot had left.  "And yer mum."

          Alice smiled.  "That's all right.  I was worried that's all.  Here," and she pulled Yuri's pillows out from behind him and placed them up in the corner.  "Lean back here."  

          Yuri complied, leaning against the wall and the pillows.  "What are you doing?" he asked with a grin.

          Alice pulled his blanket out and gave it a shake, then knelt down next to him.  "Remember when we traveled to Rouen and spent the night on the roadside?  It had snowed a little bit again and the temperature had dropped.  When I woke up the next morning I was sleeping on your lap."

          Yuri's grin grew even bigger.  "Yup, I remember.  I pulled you onto me 'cause you were shivering and the ground was cold.  I covered ya with my coat.  You stayed warm the rest of the night.  But woke up pissed at me; you thought something else!"

          "Yes, I did, but I was wrong," she said with a smile, then sat down in Yuri's lap, pulling the blanket over them both.  "It's a bit cold in here, don't you think?  You always sleep with the window open."

          Yuri settled Alice in his lap, putting his arms around her and snuggling closer, his breath tickling her neck where she rested against him.  

          "Yer mum won't get mad?" he asked quietly.

          "The door's open.  Nothing is going to happen," Alice replied just as quietly.

          "You never know, I might decide to maul you're lovely body."

          "I might decide to bash you in the head," Alice said, trying to hide the chuckle that threatened to erupt.

          "I might decide I like it rough."

          "Yuri ..."

          "I know, shut up.  Someday we'll be married, ya know?  I won't take 'no' for an answer then," he said.

          Alice was quiet for a moment, the chill and the dark settling in, the rise and fall of Yuri's chest as he breathed, the gentle susurrus of his breath, all reminding her of times they had spent on the road.  

          "I won't say no, then.  I promise.  But Yuri ..."

          "Hum?"

          "You didn't say anything about today; about what you are going to do to find the real killer."

          Yuri took a deep breath and sighed, his warm breath tickling Alice's ear.  "I dunno.  There was something about Lars; something about the way he died that reminds me of ..." he sighed again.  "I don't ... I should remember, but it's all jumbled up; reality, memory, dreams.  I can't say which it is."

          "From before?  Back when you were in China?"

          "Maybe - or maybe here.  I remember Koudelka got my brain all frazzled when Halley and me took her back to London that time.  She tol' me about her time at the Monastery."  Yuri shuddered before adjusting his hold on Alice.  "I don't know why she tol' me all that shit.  I guess she wanted me to know, but I don't know why.  Creepy shit."

          Alice giggled softly.  "It must have been horrid to spook you, Yuri."

          "Yeah, she's seen a lot that damned voice!"

          "Yuri!  She helped you," Alice said.

          "Yeah, she did.  An' she hurt me too.  Punished me every time I didn't do what I was tol' to do," he replied.  "I used ta think she could read my mind, knew what I was thinkin', that I was plannin' to ignore the instructions."  He huffed, his breath jostling Alice's bangs.  "I hated that voice; but it did teach me a lot.  You know, by way of doin'.  Got me off my lazy ass, got me to workin' instead of stealin'."

          "I thought prison changed that."

          "It did.  But so did the voice.  More, 'cuz it wouldn't let me get away with shit," Yuri said with a soft chuckle.  "Wouldn't let me touch you when I wanted to, and I wanted to, believe me.  But I thought that damned voice would come in and scratch my brain out, turn me into a vegetable.  So I didn't."

          "You know she didn't do that on purpose, Yuri," Alice commented.

          "Couldn't prove it ta me," he said and he snuffled her hair, kissing the top of her head.  "It always hurt.  Always.  But," he paused and thought for a moment, "It did save me that time in Siberia ..."

          "What happened?"

          Yuri's mind went back to Russia, pondering the circumstances that had led him to attempt that foolhardy rescue.  Really, he hadn't thought about it; the voice said 'go' and he went.  That was the first time.  He hadn't hesitated, hadn't considered what the voice might want from him, he had simply gone; traveled to Kyzyl to rescue a child.


	7. Echoes of the Past

Chapter 7: Echoes of the Past

Disclaimer: Still don't own Shadow Hearts, and I've never been to London, so if I got it wrong, I apologize. Also, for those who have commented about Yuri's dialectic: I often think he speaks with an accent (and it showed up a bit in the game as well). As I am surrounded by Russians in my town, it's Russian. He is half-Russian after all. 

WARNING! You getting tired of that yet? ADULT SITUATIONS!!! 

It seemed to Yuri that the winter chill would never leave his body. He was better dressed now than he had been in years, with heavy stock leather trousers and a leather vest topped by a long coat. These items had been given him by the grateful members of the village of Kyzyl for the rescue of the missing child. He had actually asked for the clothing up front as his own stolen clothes were sure to get ruined. 

The child had wandered off and, if not for intrepid family members who had searched for her, they never would have located the old well shaft. It was deep, dry, and very narrow and Yuri wasn't at all sure he could get down. But the village provided lengths of rope that allowed him to repel down the shaft to the dark and narrow bottom. To his dismay, the child was no longer in the shaft. At the bottom was an opening just barely big enough for a small child. Disgusted, Yuri called up for a pickaxe and bags to carry the dirt away. After another couple of hours, he was able to remove enough of the dirt at the opening to allow for him to crawl through and into a large cavern. The underground stream that had once fed the well had receded in the preceding centuries and a large cavern was exposed to Yuri's torch. He raised the smoking brand over his head but could not see the roof of the vault. 

"Hello kid? Anfisa?" he called out, but only echoes greeted him, the sound crashing back and forth over the rocky surface. "Shit," he muttered and clambered down to a ledge that led to the bottom of the cavern. The ground was dry, with no signs of the once plentiful water that must have run this course in times past. Yuri moved the torch back and forth in front of him, casting about for signs of the missing child. Finally he spotted a dragging mark that led him to another passage.

"Oh for god's sake," he growled. "Can't the damned kid stay put?"

Disgusted, he followed the drag marks into the side passage. Here there was no vaulted ceiling, but a low narrow arch made by centuries of running water while the side walls were mottled with flecks of mica and labradorite and glittered seductively in Yuri's torch. He scanned the dark dusty ground ahead and watched for occasional drag marks as he walked, hunched over, torch thrust out ahead of him. He counted out a hundred paces and then thirty more before coming to another side passage even smaller then the one he was in. This one too led downward and the drag marks showed where the girl had gone that way.

"What is with this stupid girl? Doesn't she know to stay in one place?" Yuri muttered as he hunkered down, walking bent nearly double to fit into the passage. He had gone another hundred paces when he heard a faint sound echoing along the stony corridors. It was a child's scream. Yuri began to run, his back hitting the roof as he tried to move quickly down the narrow passageway. He came abruptly to a halt as the tunnel suddenly opened up into a large chamber. He waved his torch to get a quick look around and his heart jumped into his throat. The walls were vaulted like the first chamber and stacked row after row were cocoons, their sticky webbing attaching them to the walls nearly up to the ceiling. Across the expanse Yuri spotted the little girl, cowering in a dark shadow that loomed above her. Yuri's torch could barely reach that far but he could make out the glitter of multi-faceted eyes. 

With a curse he tossed aside the torch and pulled the only weapon he owned, a knife. With this in hand he ran across the expanse of the chamber toward the cowering child. As he approached he could hear the chittering noise the large insect was making, and he knew he only has seconds before the thing would attack. His heart was pumping madly and his survival instincts were telling him to run away; but in the back of his mind was a voice that he had not heard in years, telling him to be brave, be strong and to fight! His father's voice and his father's commands during their mock combats; he had not thought of his father in years, not since Vladivostok. But now those remembered words came to him with encouragement and he lashed out with his knife at the large shadow, his other hand reaching down to grab the girl by the scruff of her clothing. He felt the knife graze the giant insect's body and, with girl in hand, jumped back, hoping to escape without further combat. But the insect had other ideas; it chattered and scrabbled in the dark, its legs carrying it out into the guttering torchlight and Yuri, his own eyes shifting to deal with the darkness, added his own screams to that of the girl. The spider was enormous; its abdomen was as big as a pair of oxen and its head was bigger than Yuri. Swallowing his next scream Yuri tossed the girl behind him, yelling at her to get out. The spider raised one hairy leg to swat at the annoying human, and Yuri ducked, scrabbling under the creature's chest and grazing it with his knife before jumping and rolling aside as the spider turned quickly for another attack.

Before Yuri could turn to defend himself he felt the hard leg of the spider as it slammed against him, throwing him back down onto the ground. Instantly the spider had covered the short distance between them and held Yuri down with one leg while its palps tasted him. Yuri yelled, struggling against the overwhelming strength of the spider, pushing against the leg holding him and when that didn't work, lacerating it with his knife. He cursed as the creature's palp worked across his face and down his chest, and he knew he had to move now. Even as he thought that, the spider's mouth was in his face and its fangs, dripping poison, were inching toward him. 

Suddenly there was pain, screaming agony cutting through his mind, and his body arched with the intensity of it. 

_ *... fusion ... your monster ... use it ... destroy sp..er ...*_

The voice and the pain passed and Yuri panted, his whole body struggling to recover quickly from the pain in his mind. In that instant the spider struck, its fangs gouging deeply into Yuri's chest, the venomous poison pumping into blood vessels and spattering over his exposed flesh. The spider pulled away and Yuri collapsed into a fetal ball, his scream of agony wailing out in the now dark cavern. Behind his own echoing screams he could hear the girl, Anfisa; too frightened to run, she was huddled in the dark, her sobs a tremolo to his alto. The instructions of the voice were lost in his agony as the poison coursed through him and the darkness of his mind joined the darkness of the cavern.

Dawn broke in pinks and greys as the late March light filtered in through the small window in Yuri's upstairs bedroom. Alice, snuggling closer, awoke to find she was still on his lap, one of his arms around her back, the other ... She sighed. How he could manage to slip his hand into her robe and fondle ... but then she smiled; it was Yuri after all. She looked up to find his head tilted to one side, his mouth open slightly and his breath coming slowly; he was still asleep. She looked closely at his face, the slight almond shape to his eyes, the thick dark lashes, and the arch to his brows; when he was awake he was the devil incarnate, but now, when he slept, his inner boyishness was evident. She tilted her head and kissed the tip of his nose, then smiled as he wiggled it; again she kissed his nose and again Yuri wiggled it before rubbing his face in her hair. Silently she chuckled, and then gently blew air onto his face, the long bangs lifting to reveal his forehead. Yuri snorted, but did not awaken, so she blew again, this time catching his eyes. With another snort, amber jewels greeted her as the eyelids opened. Yuri smiled.

"What do you t'ink yer doin'?" he slurred.

"Good morning."

He raised his head slightly and took note that she was still on his lap. "Did you sleep okay?" he asked.

Alice nodded. "And you? No more nightmares."

"Nope; slept fine with you here," and he chuckled softly.

"Perhaps a little _too_ fine?" and she tapped her fingers on his errant hand.

Yuri could not help the wolfish grin that suddenly appeared when he realized where one of his hands was located. 

"And you didn't hit me?"

"You were asleep; it hardly seemed fair after all."

"Well, that is an improvement," he said with a chuckle, his errant hand caressing the soft flesh beneath the robe. "So soft, and you don't mind my touching? Can I look, maybe?"

Alice shook her head, "No."

"Ah, why not?" he asked with a breathy sigh. "They must be beautiful, but how can I know? How can I know what to expect, eh? What if they are unpleasant to look at? What if you've got warts or something?" 

"I don't have any warts, Yuri. And that hand is getting fresh," she said and tried to swallow her smile.

"Ah yeah, but something else is gettin' fresh too," he replied.

"I – I'm not sure what you mean," she said softly.

Yuri smiled and kissed her head. "Little virgin breasts are interested in what Yuri has in mind."

"You – you're not a virgin, are you, Yuri?"

"Ah," he chuckled softly. "Not hardly."

Alice thought for a moment, letting the gentle thumb of his hand caress her then sighed. "I guess I don't mind so much," she finally said.

Yuri grinned again and a deep chuckle erupted from him. His hand continued its explorations and he bent down to kiss her again, his lips pressed against her closed mouth, and then followed the line of her jaw. Alice shuddered slightly and Yuri's hand wandered a little lower.

"You don't suppose we could do this again, yes?"

"I don't know," Alice said softly.

"I mean, yer mum won't fly off the handle or anything if she catches us sleeping together?" he asked as his hand reached the hem of her night dress.

"Nothing happened."

"Not yet, but it might," he said huskily.

Alice could feel him getting distracted and she moved his hand away, her fingers quivering. "I think we better stop now, Yuri," she said quickly.

He sighed and put his arms around her, pulling her into a tight embrace. "If I have to; but I want you Alice."

"I know."

"And you want me too, yes?"

Alice did not respond, merely pulling her robe closed as she climbed off his lap. "I'm not one of your conquests Yuri. Just be patient; soon."

Yuri swallowed audibly. "Soon; not soon enough maybe," he said but by then Alice had left the room. Yuri lie back against his pillow and grinned, his mind following pleasant reveries. 

"Yuri, breakfast!" Alice called up two hours later. Yuri had gotten up and bathed and was just putting on yesterday's clothes. With a shrug he put on the same soiled shirt, frowning at the red one that Margarete had torn. 

"Damn stupid spy tearing my best shirt even if it was dirty and I hadn't washed it in a week and had blood on it damn woman always getting under foot anyway …" he continued to mutter imprecations as he walked down the hall and took the stairs two at a time.

"Good, I'm hungry," he said as he entered the kitchen. 

"You're always hungry," Margarete said from her seat at the table. Her plate was already half empty and she was serving up more stewed fruit into a bowl.

"Save some for me, pig!" Yuri growled.

"Hollow legged vagabond!"

"Old baggage!"

"Russian terrorist!"

"Terrorist! You're the one with the damned bombs!" Yuri cried.

"Yuri, enough!" Alice said as she brought the tea pot to the table. 

"He's feeling better, Alice."

"Yes, I can tell. Sit and eat and don't say a word, Yuri," Alice instructed.

"Yes ma'am," Yuri muttered with a grin. Breakfast was a mixture of food and conversation; mostly Margarete explaining about the spy who was using 'her' name. But once the last of the tea was sipped, and the dishes cleared, Yuri headed for the vestibule and his coat. 

"Alice, are my claws around anywhere? They weren't upstairs."

"Front chest, Yuri; second drawer."

Yuri pulled open the chest and rummaged through the miscellaneous items to find his leather pouch with his Nightbird Claws. He took them out of their bag and inspected them closely, running his thumb over their razor sharp edges. A trickle of blood welled up and he used it to mark the claws' edges. He was just putting them away when Margarete joined him.

"You truly are a barbarian, aren't you; blooding your weapons?"

"Shut up Margarete. These are important tools of my trade. I respec' them. You should too."

"I do; but I prefer a gun," and she pulled her Luger 9mm from its holster. 

Yuri smirked. "Still using those little popguns, eh? I thought you were looking for a shotgun?"

Margarete shrugged. "I have one. Doesn't travel well when trying to be incognito," she answered with a smile.

"In-co-what?"

"Under cover, kiddo; like you and Alice last night."

Yuri looked startled before he suddenly grinned. "You know about that?"

"Hard to miss the satisfied smirk on your face; or the one on hers."

Yuri grinned and stood a little taller. "I _am_ good, aren't I?"

Margarete laughed. "In your _dreams_, sonny boy!"

Deflated, Yuri pouted and pulled open the front door. "I am going now, Alice!" he yelled before stepping out and slamming the door shut behind him.

"He left me!" Margarete said with a snort.

Yuri was headed for the nearest trolley station when Margarete caught up; he was making quick time and Margarete, for all her swiftness and fleetness of foot, could barely keep up with him.

"Where's the fire, kiddo?" she asked Yuri's back.

"What?"

"You're rushing!"

"Yeah, but I'm half Japanese. So?"

"No, no, no, Yuri, what's the hurry?"

"Furry? What are you on about Margarete?" he called back as he ran across St. Johns Wood to take the alleys to Wellington Road and the trolley stand.

Margarete sighed and ran faster to keep up. When Yuri was in a moving mood there was no point in talking about anything; looking at his broad back had become second nature in China and Europe and it would be no different here in London. She finally caught up at the corner of Wellington Road and High Street where the public trolley came for passengers. When the vehicle came, Yuri put in his coins for himself and Margarete and headed for the back.

"Just where are we headed, kiddo? Have you any idea?" Margarete asked as she swung into a vacant seat.

Yuri nodded, looking quickly to see if anyone sitting nearby was listening. He leaned over to her and said quietly, "I think we should check the wharf area; an' maybe the pub. That's where the murders have been happening; at least that's what the Captain was sayin'. We can check around before we go talk to him."

Margarete nodded. "I thought they were sending a car for you today?"

"Yeah, but I want to get out on my own 'fore I have to answer questions I don't know the answers to."

Margarete thought about that for a few blocks, watching as people got on and off the trolley. 

"Do you have some idea who or what is doing this, Yuri?" Margarete asked quietly.

"I dunno. Maybe. I was thinkin' about that last night, that's why I had the bad dream I guess. I was tryin' to remember all morning."

"But do you know what to look for?"

Yuri shrugged and one arm gestured haphazardly at the passing scenery. "I don't know. I just wanna check. You know, see if anything rings a bell."

Margarete smiled. "You know, your English has been improving lately. Must be all the lessons I heard you were taking."

Yuri scowled at the red-headed spy. "Yeah? An' when you gonna stop lookin' so funny? You dress like a prostitute."

Margarete stared at Yuri with icy eyes. "I do not," she said through clenched jaw.

"Yes you do. I know; I saw one jus' like you in Shanghai," Yuri said and scratched his head. "No, wait that _was_ you."

Margarete punched him. "I'm gonna kill you, Yuri Hyuga. I don't know when or how, but someday I'm gonna put paid to your contract."

Yuri was chuckling quietly.

They got off the trolley just down from Blackfriars Bridge. The pub that Yuri frequented was three blocks further down across the bridge and the wharf where he had been working was just beyond that. With nearly a week passing since he was last here he didn't think there would be much to see, but perhaps his own senses would be better than whatever the local constables used. He was of the opinion that they were all hounds but with the noses of kittens. Except for Cashiel. Yuri respected Cashiel; the man was a son-of-a-bitch, and Yuri knew damned well he'd been manipulated by the Captain, but couldn't hold it against the man – he had a case to solve after all. 

They stopped first at the pub, skirting the building and entering from the alley. Margarete scrunched up her nose at the mixed smells that rose from the filthy alleyway, and looked with jaundiced eyes at the pile of trash. 

"Do you think it's the same garbage as when you slept here?" she asked.

Yuri smirked. "What do you t'ink; they change it for the best customers? C'mon, let's go on back." So saying he passed the pile of filth and turned the corner behind the pub; there was no sign that the police had ever been there, just a smear of darkness along the filth strewn ground. Yuri dropped to one knee, poking at the black smear.

"Blood," he said. "Old and gummy with the fog; it's human so it belongs to Lars." Yuri stood and looked up and down the alley. "He woulda left from the back door, same as me. His brother an' him live just a few blocks away through the alleys. He woulda taken the shortcut, drunk or not."

"So whatever got him would have been here in the alley already?" Margarete walked to the next cross street in the alleyway. On her left the narrow street went down to the wharf, on her right it led to warehouses and old buildings. "Someone or something could be in those warehouses," she said and pointed them out.

Yuri nodded silently, scanning the street. "I think it came down from the roof maybe."

"What did it do? Walk the phone wires? That's impossible!" Margarete exclaimed, stepping out from the alley to stare up at the thin wires crossing the street. "Even if it used the power lines, it couldn't make it. The lines would break."

Yuri glanced up at the wires and grunted his agreement. "Okay, then it walked, but from where?" He scanned the dark warehouses across the street. "I'm gonna check it out."

The first warehouse was locked and bolted from the outside with warning signs plastered along its length. Yuri rubbed at the nearest window and looked through, trying to make out the dim interior. What he could see was row upon row of boxes, stacked higher than a man and marked with lettering. The warehouse was not lit but the windows along the ground floor let in filtered light. Yuri backed away, a scowl creasing his brow.

"What's the matter, kiddo?"

He shrugged inelegantly, hunching his shoulders. "I dunno. Something keeps nagging me; almost as bad as you."

"You're welcome. What is it though?"

"Shit if I know. Something about the dark; this warehouse has too much light."

Margarete looked around. "So we find one not in use or without windows."

"Shit, Maggs. There's a war on; there's stuff movin' in and out of London every day. You find me an empty warehouse ferchristsakes."

"Okay, okay. We'll just keep looking." She moved off down the row of warehouses, Yuri a few paces behind. "And Yuri, it's Margarete; I'll tolerate Maggie. But if you ever call me Maggs again you'll be singing tenor." 

Yuri didn't answer but Margarete could hear his deep chuckle.

For the next several hours Margarete and Yuri investigated warehouse after warehouse along the wharf. The activity in the area meant that whatever had hit on the pub that night, had likely moved along. Finally a little after noon they stopped to get food at a local worker's stand, taking their meat pies and coffee to sit on the sun side embankment beside the Tower Bridge. The day had turned out warm, with spring now sending up new shoots and new blossoms to delight the eye. Yuri sat with his back to the bridge support and watched the sun glitter on the Thames in an almost hypnotic fashion. He finished his pasty and stretched out his legs, settling down to let the food digest, listening to the lap of the river on the bank and the sounds of people walking along the quay. Before long he was dozing in the sun.

His insides felt like boiling acid and his guts were grinding. That was Yuri's first thought upon awakening. He tried to grab his stomach but found he could not move; something sticky was holding him securely. 

'What th' fuck?' he thought and opened his eyes. The darkness was absolute, but with a few blinks he managed to shift his eyes; an imperfect technique he had accidentally discovered when using his monster. It allowed him night vision and limited spectral eyesight that afforded him the view of monsters, dead things and occasionally naked ladies – dead ones of course. If it didn't hurt so much, Yuri would have chuckled at the thought of any naked ladies in these damned caves. Looking around he could barely make out the silky cocoons lying around him, and he knew he had been wrapped up by the spider. 

"God damn," he muttered and jerked his arms, trying to pull loose. The motion sent his innards to protesting and a cramp threatened to turn him inside out. "Musta poisoned me, fucking shit," he cursed. A chittering sound caught his attention and he strained to look over his left shoulder; beyond his own wrapped up body the spider was hunched over another form, wrapping it in silk. The little girl he had come to rescue was now in no better a position than he was, wrapped up for food.

"Gotta get out," he growled and pulled harder, thrusting his right shoulder upward, straining the sticky silk. The strands stretched but held and Yuri pushed again and again, harder each time until he felt a few strands give. Taking a deep breath he tried to bring his right arm up; slowly he began to make progress, each push against the silk giving him a millimeter of room to move in. Finally he could feel his belt beneath his fingers and the other knife he kept sheathed there. It was nothing more than a dagger, a small blade used for trimming or slicing, certainly not for killing. He felt his fingers touch the hilt and work their way around the haft pulling gently to get it free. 

'Now,' he thought. 'Now I can get outta here.' He carefully twisted the dagger until it was slicing along the cocoon, giving him more and more room until his right hand was completely free. With an upward thrust he sliced through the webbing holding his arms and freed his upper body then bent to slice and hack at the bindings on his legs. In another minute he was free and looking around for his other knife. He spotted it just a few yards away and mentally measured the distance to get it and get away before the monstrous arachnid could catch him. But then the muffled cries of the child caught his attention again and he cursed; there was no way he could leave without her. 

With a muffled curse he rolled onto his belly and slowly crawled toward the knife, each movement slow and agonizing as the poison still coursed through him and the possibility of discovery was imminent. An eternity later the cold knife hilt was in his hand and he took a deep breath. Barely twelve feet away was the spider and just beneath it the cocoon with Anfisa. He watched as the spider finished its work and picked up the small package, carrying it to a stack of larger cocoons and setting it securely in place. 

"Damn if it's not collecting food," Yuri muttered. "I gotta get her now!" With a growl the young harmonixer leapt to his feet and sprinted across the dark cavern floor, the spider looming ahead of him. He ducked under the creature's abdomen and slid to one knee, his knife held in both hands, blade upward. With his body, he thrust upwards, plunging the knife into the upper body, severing blood vessels and ganglions within the chest cavity. Not stopping, he withdrew the blade and turned to slice at the creature's head, fending off the fangs and pedipalp as the spider tried to defend itself. Wounded, it skittered back a few feet allowing Yuri to reach the girl's cocoon. With the ichor covered knife he sliced through her webbing and dragged her from its suffocating fibers.

By now the spider had patched itself with webbing and was turning its multifaceted eyes onto its attacker. Yuri grabbed the girl's hand and pulled her along, keeping one eye on the dim exit and another on the spider, but when the creature turned suddenly back toward him he shoved the girl toward the exit.

"Straight ahead is th' opening; go damn it! I'll be right behind you. Hurry!" 

The little girl nodded her understanding even if Yuri couldn't see it and fled into the opening. This time she did not let her fear grip her, this time her little legs worked to carry her though the opening and into the narrow passage. Turning left she scrambled nearly on all fours down the dirt tunnel. In the cavern Yuri was fending off the spider, its front legs trying to snag or pin him to the cavern floor. He waved the knife blindly as he inched back toward the opening, giving the girl the precious few seconds he could to escape. Finally he made one final slash with his knife and ducked into the opening. In another second he was through and running down the narrow tunnel, catching up to Anfisa in a few heartbeats. He grabbed her up with his spare hand and pulled her to his chest, holding her tightly as he ran quickly for the large cavern and the well beyond.

By the time he made the narrow opening to the well bottom his heart was pounding fiercely in his chest. Sweat poured off him in rivers and his vision, returning to normal now that he was out of the dark cavern, was spotted with sparkles. He set Anfisa down and knelt, panting.

"An-Anfisa, little flower. I need you to tie this rope around yourself," he said between breathless pants, and handed her the rope end that dangled from the well head.

"You – you're hurt mister?"

Yuri nodded. "Yeah, poisoned. I don't know if I can make it but you gotta get outta here, eh?"

"I – I got scared. You helped me," the little girl said softly and touched Yuri's sweat-soaked and begrimed face.

"Come on sweeting. Tie up." With enfeebled fingers Yuri tried to help the girl tie the rope to her waist but the girl would not stop touching his face. It was then he felt it, a warm sensation coming from her hands. He sat back on his heels and breathed in wonder as light seemed to emanate from the little girl's hands, a faint almost silver light that tingled where it touched him. 

"You – you can do magic?" he asked.

"Uh-huh. Poppa says I can help when I pray. We pray a lot and I can help a lot. Can you pray?" she asked her eyes wide and expectant.

"I never have before. I don't know how," he answered.

"Oh," Anfisa looked disappointed, then brightened. "You pray with me, all right?"

Yuri nodded, the girls fingers still gently touching his face. "All right."

"Dear God," she said, and Yuri repeated her words. "I send my prayer to you. May we be restored to health of mind and body so we can turn to you with gratitude and love. Amen."

"Amen," Yuri agreed and watched in awe as the light of the little girl's fingers grew to a golden hew bathing them both in its iridescence. Warmth flooded him and he felt the cramping of the poison relinquish at last and a feeling of health and strength restored, left him wondering what kind of power this little girl truly possessed.

"Come on, precious flower," he said at last. "Let's get you outta here." He secured the rope and yanked on it, signaling those above to pull. Up she went, a smile beaming on her face and a few minutes later the rope returned and Yuri used it to climb out.

Facing the delighted villagers Yuri was reticent to give them the bad news but once they understood the need, they brought fuel oil and torches. By sunup the next morning the smoke of the fire burning in the abandoned well rose black and oily into the pink dawn. And the next day, after sleeping in a soft bed, Yuri left the little town with a full belly, food in his pack, new clothes and new weapons; the blacksmith had taken his leather gloves and added small curved blades to the knuckles giving Yuri claws to replace those he had lost many months before. 

Some hours later he reached the crest of a hill that overlooked the east-west railroad. In the distance a train was chugging its way eastward, steam billowing behind the engine. Yuri looked down the tracks, back the way the train had come and wondered about the world of the west, what it was like; what kind of people lived there. Then with a shrug he descended the hill; the west was no place he was likely ever to visit, and so he headed east along the tracks, the clack of the railroad wheels fading into the distance.

Yuri opened his eyes to a wondrous sight, two well-proportioned breasts couched in a black bustier were in front of him and without thinking, he reached up and put his hands on them. Instantly his face was full of pain and he was alert. Margarete, kneeling beside him, was flicking her hand with pain.

"I'm awake!" he shouted.

"Damn but you have a hard head!" she said and Yuri realized he had awakened to Margarete leaning over him.

"Sorry. You don't have to get mad!" he exclaimed, then ruined the apology with a smirk. "Nice breasts, by the way."

Margarete sat back on her heels, frowning but then broke into laughter. "You are incorrigible aren't you kiddo. You didn't wake up; I didn't expect you to grab me though. Were you in that graveyard place?"

Yuri tilted his head to one side and eyed Margarete's revealing outfit. "Well, you do like to show 'em off. I couldn't help myself. And no, I wasn't there."

"Just don't do it again, okay?" She stood up and looked around. The quay had quieted down in the last couple of hours with foot traffic reduced to a few strays crossing the bridge. "We should get going, don't you think?"

Yuri rose from the grass and brushed dirt from his coat. "Yeah, I guess so. I wanted to look around some more but," he rubbed the back of his neck. "I just remembered something," he said cryptically and walked away, crossing the Tower Bridge ahead of Margarete.

"What? What did you remember?" Margarete called to his retreating back. "Damn it, slow down!"

Yuri paused and waited for Margarete to catch up, then continued walking, this time at a slower pace. 

"I told ya I was tryin' to remember something last night. I could not but I just remembered what it was."

"So, tell me!"

"No." He continued to walk in silence for a while until they were climbing up King William toward Cheapside. 

"Why not?" Margarete finally asked, stopping him with a tug on his coat sleeve.

"Well, 'cause I'll just have to tell Alice anyway, so I might as well wait," he answered.

Margarete continued to walk beside Yuri for a few more blocks, barely noticing the parade of shops along Cheapside. There were times Yuri's take on practicality drove her nuts; if he weren't such a good companion and friend ... By the time they reached Saint Paul's Margarete had had enough. She reached out and pulled Yuri around to face her.

"What is going on with you, Yuri? Are you having trouble with the Masks again or what?"

Yuri blinked, surprised at the question. "What are you on about, Maggie?"

"You; you've been acting strange – intense. It's not like you. And you never keep secrets; you're not capable of it! So why are you claming up now?"

Yuri scratched his head and shrugged. "What do you mean I can't keep secrets? I keep 'em all the time," he paused then snorted. "What? You want the story of my life or somethin'?"

Margarete chuckled. "No, just what is going on inside that half-breed brain of yours."

"Oh, well, nothing is going on." He turned away and continued up the street leaving Margarete standing by herself.

Margarete watched Yuri's back as he walked away from her, the usually jaunty stride missing.

'He's lying like a rug,' she thought. "Yuri Hyuga, what are you afraid of?" she called and was satisfied to see him suddenly stop and turn around, anger briefly showing before he hid it behind diffidence.

"Nothing; I am not afraid of anything, you know that."

"So why is this little murder bothering you so much? It's not like _you_ did it."

Yuri shrugged. "It's not like that; not the deaths alone, really. It - it's a lot of things."

Margarete caught up to him again and took his arm, leading him to a stoop. Pushing him down, she sat next to him, their knees touching.

"So what is it? Come on kiddo, I thought we were friends!"

"Are we really? I had never thought that," he said sheepishly, then shrugged. "Sorry; didn't mean it that way. I just never trusted you, that's all."

"And well you should not have, but of course we're friends. Why do you think I came here all the way from France?"

Yuri looked at the beautiful spy, the red hair dye making her look considerably different than her usual blonde good looks. If it weren't for her green eyes she would remind him of Koudelka.

"You knew I was in jail, right?"

She shook her head. "Not until I got here. Doesn't that prove I'm your friend?" She reached out and took one of his hands, the callused and roughened fingers dwarfing her own fine-boned hands.

"Well, I guess," he said quietly.

"So what is bothering my friend?" 

Yuri shrugged. "I think I know what is doing the killings, yes," he said with a nod. "I do not know for sure. And I do not know that I can take it by myself."

"I'll help, you know that. What else?"

"Well," he dropped his chin and curled his fingers around Margarete's hand. "I – well, do – this is stupid but, do you think Alice likes me? I mean enough to marry me?"

Margarete gasped before she could stop herself. 'This was the last thing I expected,' she thought. "What brought that on?" she asked.

"Well, you know I asked her; and she said yes? But now it's always soon, soon – what th' fuck is 'soon' anyway?" he gripped Margarete's fingers tightly and Margarete bit her lip but refused to let him know he was hurting her.

"I know she loves you, kiddo. It shows in everything she does."

"So why won't she marry me?" he looked up at her and the look of confusion in the young harmonixer's eyes tugged at Margarete's heart. 

"I think she will, Yuri. Just give her time. You've been patient with her this long. And I thought you made progress last night? What's the hurry?"

"Ah hell," he grumbled and loosened his grip on her hand. Standing he stepped once more onto the sidewalk and turned toward Alliston Road. Margarete watched as he walked away, one part of her screaming that Alice was not good enough for Yuri and the other wishing things were different. With a sigh she stood and walked up the street behind him. 

Nearly an hour later they approached the Edwardian on Alliston Road and Yuri stopped on the street looking up at the house. Over the weeks he had brought in enough money to have the house repainted and the eaves repaired. New wrought iron was being installed on the Widow's Walk where Death Emperor had slid through and demolished it and additionally he had replaced the smashed upper floor window. New rose bushes lined the walkway and a few pale blossoms had popped their heads above the dirt in planters and pots set about the front by the gardener. In all, the house now looked lived in and loved.

"You know, I've given them a lot of money to fix up that place," he said to Margarete as she approached. "I've worked my ass off to bring in the money, an' I don't mind … hell, I've never needed money for myself anyway. But I wanted to do this for Alice an' her mum. I wanted to do this for Alice too; get her a place … for her ... for us." Yuri paused and waited for Margarete to say something, but when she didn't he turned to her and smiled. "You know, it's just me. I'm horny," he said with a laugh and climbed the stairs.

Margarete chuckled and followed him up, but she knew he'd managed to obfuscate his feelings again and yet, she also knew he was a randy young man living in a restrictive household; he might very well be in dire need. The thought occurred to her that she could help, but as they entered the prim Elliot household, she tabled that thought for later. 

Yuri called out upon entering, and when Alice answered from the sitting room he pushed though the vestibule and joined her. 

"Alice, sorry I'm late – oh!" Yuri pulled up short, seeing the room's occupants; sitting in the room Alice was Captain Cashiel and Lieutenant Carter. The captain wore a bulldog look that told Yuri he was in deep trouble. "Oh shit," he said. "I forgot."

A moment later Margarete joined them she looked from the homicide detectives to Yuri and back before patting Yuri on the shoulder. "It's been nice knowing you, kiddo."

Yuri nearly got whiplash looking from Margarete to Alice and then to Cashiel seated across the room. When he took a breath he turned to Cashiel.

"Are you here to take me to prison?" he asked flatly.

Cashiel stared at the young man for a full minute, his eyes boring into the fusionist. "Do you want to go to prison?" he asked.

Yuri jumped back a pace, his hands coming up in a defensive gesture. "No! No, no. It's just I forgot, really."

"Yuri, where did you go?" Alice asked.

"We, we went to the pub. Where Lars … I wanted ta see for myself. Figure out how he died; maybe where th' killer was hiding."

"And?" Carter prompted.

"Well, we checked the warehouses up and down th' wharf, but most are full and there are lots of people. I don' think the killer is there anymore."

"Do you have _any_ idea what we're looking for?" Cashiel asked.

Yuri shook his head, and then rubbed the back of his neck. "Well ..."

"Go on, sonny boy," Margarete piped up from behind him. "You said you had a clue; that you remembered something. Spill the beans, damn it!"

Yuri looked back at Margarete, and then sighed. 

"Well yes, I did. I was gonna tell Alice." He turned at looked at Captain Cashiel, a lopsided grin on his face. "I really did forget, I wasn't runnin' away or anything," he said.

Cashiel cleared his throat and smiled a broad lipped grin. "I believe you. So tell us what you discovered."

"Well it kinda goes back to what your man Brittey was sayin'; about the monastery and all."

"Do you think we had something to do with a monster escaping from there, Yuri?" Alice asked her hands clasped in her lap.

"No, no, not us really, but Simon, yeah. But even so, it goes back to when Koudelka was there too. Ya see, when Halley an' me took her back to London, she wouldn't shut up about it. She talked the whole way back to town."

"Don't tell me you pestered her all the way to London!" Alice exclaimed.

Margarete stepped around him and pulled up a chair next to Alice. "This should be good."

"No! It's not like that," Yuri said and chuckled. "You know me, I like stories! And she kept saying as how it was important. I thought she meant for Halley, but he fell asleep half way through; I guess she meant for me, tho' I don't know why."

"But what does that have to do with this? Don't tell me Koudelka killed these people, kiddo," Margarete said with a sly grin.

Yuri frowned. "Don't be stupid," he said.

"All right, tell us Yuri," Alice said and indicated the last remaining chair across the room. 


	8. Yuri Hyuga, Monster Hunter

Chapter 8: Yuri Hyuga, Monster Hunter

Disclaimer:  I don't own Shadow Hearts or Koudelka.  Darn!     Thanks again to AriesCelestial (_Shadow Souls_) for the brilliant idea that Yuri not only doodles, he doodles _nasties_.  And if you haven't read her opus:  why not?

WARNING!  Ah, you get the drill.  Turn back before you lose all sense of reality!  

            Yuri talked until his throat was raw, at first pacing the floor in the small sitting room, then taking the last chair after Mrs. Elliot brought in tea.  For Margarete and Alice it was simply a review of what they already knew from Koudelka herself, but for Cashiel and Carter and the listening Mrs. Elliot it was something else.  Yuri, although not articulate in English himself, could tell a story, especially if he had heard the story from someone who was good at the telling; and Koudelka was good.  Alice could almost hear Koudelka's inflection when Yuri described her encounter with first Edward Plunkett the American adventurer and then James O'Flaherty, the bishop.  Yuri detailed the major confrontations that Koudelka had recited, adding comments about the creatures from his own experience.  When he got to the description of the underground passages, he grinned.

            "I even have a map," he said, waving haphazardly at the upper floor of the house.  "Koudelka gave it to me before I came back to Wales."

            "Do you still have it?"  Margarete asked her eyes bright.

            "Yeah, it's upstairs in my satchel.  But it doesn't show the other passageways that she told me about, hey!"  Yuri said as Margarete rose and ran up the stairs to the upper floor.  "Where are you going?"

            "Never mind, Yuri; Margarete's only bringing the satchel.  Go on with the story; what did they encounter in the church proper?"

            "Oh," Yuri said with a widening grin.  "That would be Amon!"

            By the time he had finished the tale it was late.  Cashiel sat ruminating about the story while Carter grinned.

            "Brittey's gonna wish he was here for this," Carter said with a toothy grin.

            Cashiel chuckled, a sound more like a growling dog.  "Yeah; so what does all this have to do with the killer, Hyuga?  You haven't explained that."

            "Well, it's like this, I think I've seen its like – but I cannot be sure.  I was in Siberia ... well almost to Mongolia.  An' it's only a thought.  I won't know for sure until I catch up to it."

            "So why do you think it's similar?  And the connection is where?"

            Yuri scratched his head with a sigh.  "That smell I got from Lars; it reminded me of the poison that th' creature used on me before.  An' I think this thing came from Wales 'cuz a lot of creatures escaped when Albert raised that damned Float thingy.  I don' know for sure; I'm just guessing.  But it makes sense to me."

            Margarete, who had returned with Yuri's satchel some while back, said "That's a bit scary, sonny boy, that it makes sense to you.  You've never been a thinker, but your instincts have always been good."

            "Thanks, I think," Yuri replied.  "Look, all I can say, is that I think we'll find this creature somewhere near th' wharf.  That is where you said the other deaths have been near, yes?" he asked Cashiel who nodded.  "But it must be dark; quiet.  It's been nearly two days since th' last death.  There will be another one soon, maybe even tonight.  You find that dark quiet warehouse, or abandon'd building or hell, even a sewer, and you'll have your creature."

            Cashiel rose and headed for the vestibule.  "I'll get men onto it right away," he said.

            Carter offered Yuri his hand.  "The old man appreciates this, even if he doesn't say, Hyuga."

            "I'll walk you out, Lieutenant," Margarete offered and took the young officer's arm as she walked him out of the sitting room.

            "Alice," Yuri went down on one knee at Alice's chair, "Alice, I'm gonna go back out there tonight.  I gotta feelin', that's all," he said.

            Alice took his hand in hers and nodded.  "I – I know.  Be careful, all right?"

            Yuri chuckled.  "Ah, you know me, I'm always careful."

            Alice laughed in her turn.  "No, no you're not, that is why I'm asking you."  Alice's fingers caressed Yuri's calloused knuckles.  "Yuri," she said softly.

            Yuri looked up into Alice's clear blue eyes, his own amber eyes shining with suppressed emotions.  

            "I didn't tell you," she said softly, "because I didn't want you to do something reckless, but I think you should know that I told mother," she hesitated.

            "I'm not reckless ... much," he said with a lopsided grin.

            Alice made a breathless laugh and one hand came up to caress his cheek.  "Yes you are.  But I want you to be careful.  I want you safe, because I told mother that when you had finished helping the captain, when you had _finished_, you and I would be married."

            Yuri looked at Alice, his breath stuck in his throat.  He slowly sank onto his heels, his mouth open to speak, but no words came forth.  Alice, holding his hands once more, watched his face as he went through the emotions of surprise, confusion, delight, and bewilderment.

            "Yuri, what's wrong?  I thought you _wanted_ to get married," she exclaimed.

            For his part Yuri was having trouble finding his voice.  He nodded dumbly before finally coughing out a laugh.  

            "Of course!  I – I thought you didn't ... you kept saying 'soon' I didn't know if you had changed your mind and I wasn't I didn't I – I,"

            "Breathe, Yuri," Alice said with a laugh.  

            Instead Yuri stood, pulling her up into his arms and folding her into a long embrace, his lips pressed hers, his tongue tasting her, and when she didn't open her mouth he scoured down her chin and laid kisses on her throat until she was moaning then returned to her lips, mashing them. 

            "Open up will ya," he said between kisses, and Alice opened tentative lips to find Yuri instantly sending his tongue questing into her mouth, their tongues meeting and greeting before he pulled back.  Alice melted into his arms, further burying herself in his broad chest and Yuri could hear her sigh with pleasure.

            "Don't ever doubt my love for ya, Alice Elliot," Yuri said softly, his chin resting in her hair.

            "No, never," she breathed.

            "Tea you two," Margarete called from the kitchen and Yuri growled.

            "Damn her timing anyway."

            "There's always later, Yuri.  Let's … let's have some tea before you leave."

            Yuri sighed but offered Alice his arm and with a giggle, Alice took it.  Together they walked down the narrow hallway to the kitchen where Mrs. Elliot was preparing the tea.  Margarete had Yuri's satchel set out on the table and, spread out between the cups and the sugar were the maps that Koudelka had given Yuri, and something else.  When Yuri spotted the other sheets of paper his face blossomed crimson.

            "What are you doing?" he shouted and grabbed across the table for the other sheets of paper, but Margarete was faster and swept them away.

            "What?  You don't think we should look at these?  Then why put them in with the maps, huh?"  Margarete taunted Yuri with the sheets of paper and one look at Mrs. Elliot's expression told him she had seen them and was not amused one bit.  Yuri backed away from the table, his expression changing so rapidly that neither Margarete nor Alice could tell what he was thinking.  Finally he reached out and, grabbing the satchel, upended it on the table, spilling its contents.

            "Here, take everything else while yer at it!" he shouted and turned toward the kitchen door. "And you say you're my friend," he muttered and the door swung closed behind him.

            "Yuri!  Don't go, please … what's wrong?  What is it?"  But Yuri refused to answer.  He went to the entryway, donned his trench coat once more, and left the house.  Alice turned with fire in her eyes.  "What did you do _that_ for?" she asked, glowering at Margarete.

            "Hey, hey, don't get mad at me!" Margarete said.  She laid the papers out flat on the table, showing them to Alice.  "I didn't do these, _he_ did!"  

            Alice looked at the topmost piece of paper; it was brown with ragged edges, having been torn from something else at some point and it showed heavy creases where it had been folded again and again.  The paper contained drawings, several small portraitures and studies, but the central most figure was herself, lying on a bed, totally naked.  Alice blinked, and then looked up at her mother.

            "I never did that, I swear."

            "And I never did _this_ either," Margarete said with a chuckle and showed the next piece of paper.  This one was Margarete and the pose was anything but sweet.

            Alice instantly blushed.  "He – he did that?  What are these others?"  Alice took the other papers from Margarete's hand and laid them down on the table.  The first one to catch her attention was stained in blood, this she pulled out from the others.  It was a portrait of a man and woman and a small child; the child's figure was covered in the old dried blood while the man's had been crossed out, tearing deep gouges in the paper.

            "Are those his parents?" Margarete asked. 

            "I – I think so.  He probably drew that in China before we met."  The next picture was of a fusion soul, the same one from the newspaper.

            "Is that him?" Alice's mother asked, pointing a trembling finger at the Spirit of Loathing.

            "Yes, Death Emperor, Yuri's favorite; he's had him since the beginning.  I'm surprised he could draw it."

            "Oh my god, he drew _that_," Margarete murmured and showed the last one.  A large picture with the top of Kuihai tower sketched in.  There stood Dehuai, merely a stick figure, summoning the Seraphic Radiance which filled the majority of the paper, its crimson wings stained with … Margarete shuddered.  "How can he do that?"

            "What's that pattern?  Is that the Mandala?" Alice asked, and both she and Margarete squinted closer.  "Yes, it is; it's the Mandala of Hell.  How could he draw that so well?"

            "I never knew he could draw," Margarete said with a chuckle.  "Kid's got talent, even if the subject matter leaves much to be desired."

            "And you hurt his feelings, digging into his bag Margarete.  You shouldn't have; and you shouldn't have teased him either."

            Margarete opened her mouth to protest but then closed it, her lips pressing themselves into a pout.

            "Yeah, I guess you're right.  Oh shit!  He left without me again.  Damn!"  Margarete tossed aside the papers and ran from the kitchen, the front door banging shut behind her a moment later.

            Alice stood silently for a moment, looking at the pile of items spilled from Yuri's satchel.  A couple of rings were tangled up with the Brigand and Pirate earrings and she reached down to put them right, but then a small black book caught her attention.

            "He kept this?" she said softly and pulled out her small black and gold trimmed bible, its pages bent and worn from use and the leather cracked and torn where the metal plates in the covers had broken through.  "I thought he sold this," she said looking up at her expectant mother. "He paid me the money for it anyway.  Why would he keep it, he can't even read it?"

            Mrs. Elliot turned to the stove to pour the boiling water into the teapot.  "Perhaps he kept it because it was yours?" she offered.  Alice looked up surprised at her mother's candid suggestion and then sat down with a thud.

            "Oh God, keep him safe," she whispered as tears threatened her cheeks.

            Yuri was fuming as he ran down the street.  The evening traffic had abated and now, as the sun was setting, he had little trouble making room on the trolley.  As the coach pulled away he spotted Margarete running to the stop her arms waiving in the air, trying to catch the trolley's attention but it pulled away without her.

            'Good,' Yuri thought in a moment of anger.  'Let her walk it, nosey bitch.'  He sat quietly, contemplating his next move until the trolley came to his stop and he stepped off above Blackfriars Bridge.  He stood looking at the bridge and the surrounding docks and warehouses and wondered where to start.  Finally, with a shrug, he turned left and bypassed the bridge and headed for Queenithe Dock and the warehouses just beyond.  He was just passing the dock when Margarete caught up to him.  

            "Yuri Hyuga you egotistical son-of-a-bitch!" she called loudly so that he had to stop and turn back to her.

            "Back off, Margarete," he answered, one hand pulling out the Nightbird Claws from his pouch.  "You gonna give me shit now too?"

            "You just don't know when to take it lying down," Margarete said as she approached one green eye on the claws and one on his face.  "You're not going to use those on me, are ya sonny boy?"

            Yuri growled as he put on his claws over his leather gloves, his eyes shifting to a darker shade of amber-brown.  "I dunno.  Do you deserve to be clawed to death, Maggs?"

            Margarete stopped three feet away.  "What did I tell you about calling me 'Maggs', kiddo."

            "Fuck you bitch.  I got no time for you an' your shit, you just stay out of my way," he growled and made a gesture with his claws before turning away.

            "Ah, I had no idea you were a murderer as well as a harmonixer, Hyuga.  Will you teach me the finer points of slaughter by claws?" she asked, her words dripping with sarcasm.

            Yuri spun around and covered the few feet between them in a heartbeat.  He grabbed Margarete's coat lapel and pulled her close, his warm breath washing over her face.  "I tell you _Maggs_, if you don't stop picking on me, I will personally slit your lovely throat, an' afterwards I'll make passionate love to your corpse!"  He stared into her green eyes for a full minute before pushing her aside and turning toward the dock.

            Margarete straightened her coat and brushed imaginary dirt from her skirt before looking up at his retreating back.  "Yuri, you say the most interesting things," she muttered with a grin, then followed him.

            Yuri wandered around Queenithe Dock, pocking his head into the wharf-side warehouses and even into the dock master's office.  Even after dark the wharf was busy, but as the evening progressed to late night the docks shut down and, except for the civilian guards or army soldiers around the military ordinance, everything was quiet.  Yuri made his way around the dock and back up to the warehousing along the quay, making his way east toward Southwark Bridge.  Behind him, the whole while was Margarete, keeping out of his line of sight but there to support him if he got into trouble.  Yuri ignored her.

            A little after midnight Yuri stopped along the river, the dark expanse of Southwark Bridge rising on his left, and the even darker shapes of warehouses behind him.  Across the Thames was the Shakespeare theatre with its lights and entertainments.  Yuri had seen the bustle of activity earlier but now even that was dark, its actors and stagehands having packed up and gone home.  Yuri squatted on his heels, watching the slow flow of the river, hearing the quiet lap at the water's edge and the overwhelming smells of river rot and garbage washing up to his nose.  There was something about large cities, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and now London that brought to mind garbage.  They were always dirty, always crowded, and always enchanting.  Yuri, who had lived most of his life wandering the hills and vales of China and Russia, could appreciate big cities; they enchanted him with their verve and the people's lust for life. He could feel their pulse and smell their refuse and know that the city was alive.  He rose to his feet after a few minutes and a sudden movement caught his eye; he glanced to his left and saw only darkness.  He looked back to see Margarete was still there, waiting above the shoreline, and then turned toward the darkness.

            He stayed along the shore, kicking his way over clumps of unknown weeds and bits of trash and once he was in the shadow of Southwark Bridge he was in deep darkness; he could see nothing in the immediate area until he changed his eyes, bringing the partial fusion trick he had learned many years ago into play.  Instantly the bridge stood out in relief with a darker shadow beneath it, skittering along the shoreline.  With a quick adjustment to his claws he followed the dark within dark shadow as it seemed to fly over the ground and under the bridge, and he followed it, using tracking skills he had honed in his early years in Siberia.  Ahead, just as he turned the corner of the bridge support, was the dark movement and it vanished almost as quickly as Yuri saw it.  

            He slowed as he came directly beneath the bridge and his eyes grew wider, gathering in all the subtle shades of black in the area.  Then he saw it, to his left and along the ground; a grated entryway to the underground sluiceway; there he saw scratch marks of something entering the grate.  Yuri took off one of his claws and pulled experimentally on the grate before wrapping both hands around the bars and pulling.  With a grinding shriek, the metal gave way and the grate came loose in his hands and he tossed it aside; ducking, he entered the sluiceway tunnel.

            Inside was a new form of darkness, this cloying and close and Yuri, on his hands and knees coming through the small tunnel, could barely see even with his enhanced vision.  A long minute later, he tumbled down out of the entry tunnel and into the main sewage line.  He could stand at a crouch in the tunnel and he hesitated only a moment, listening to the sounds in the tunnel before heading out to follow the sounds, hoping it would lead him to his quarry.

            As he moved down the dark passage, he heard the scratch and scrape of someone else behind him and then he heard Margarete's muttering voice.

            'Damn stupid woman,' he thought.  'She's determined to get in the middle of this."

            Yuri decided to ignore Margarete; maybe she'd miss him in the dark, and he continued down the passage.  He hadn't gone a hundred yards when the passage split and he paused to listen, but Margarete was making too much noise.  He turned to call to her when something moved up behind him and slammed him to the ground, shoving the air out of his lungs.  He scrambled to his knees and struck out with his right hand, claws extended and connected with something hard.  He could hear his attacker moving in the dirt and turned toward it, blinking his eyes to try to make out the dark within dark shadow that had struck him.  He could barely make out the movement of darkness to his left and he leapt toward it, his left arm grabbing onto something fuzzy and hard. He swung his right arm back and thrust downward bringing his claws into contact with the creature and there was a satisfying crunch of bone and a high-pitched keening that set Yuri's nerves on edge.  

            Behind him, stumbling down the dark passage, Margarete heard the scrambling sounds ahead and pulled her Luger, checking its clip, before continuing on quickly in a crouch.  She mentally cursed herself for not obtaining a torch before following Yuri on this madcap adventure, but then resigned herself to the fact that Yuri was just as reckless as she was and there was nothing to do about it.  When a loud keening began ahead of her, she sprinted to where she could hear Yuri struggling before dropping to one knee.  One hand extended with the Luger, the other one supporting, she tried to decide where to put her bullets.

            "Kid?" she called and waited a heartbeat before pulling the trigger, firing off three rapid rounds just where she figured the sound was coming from. There was a satisfying thud and a ricochet before she stood and advanced toward the sounds.  In the next instant she was wishing she had stayed put.

            Yuri felt the creature lurch when Margarete discharged her gun and knew that at least one of the bullets had found flesh, but in the next instant, the creature was struggling, tossing him aside like a rag doll, and scuttling back down the passage toward Margarete.  He hit the side wall with a thud, banging his head but shook it off and with a growl curling his lips, followed the creature. 

            It caught up to Margarete in seconds and in the unremitting darkness, slammed Margarete to the ground, pinning her.  Margarete struggled beneath its appendage, trying to wiggle free when something sharp pierced her chest and she knew instantly that death was holding her to the ground.  Fire flamed in her chest and her limbs were suddenly heavy, her breathing became nearly impossible and she barely gasped out before falling unconscious.  

            Yuri heard Margarete's gasp and knew he had only seconds to act.  He reached within himself and pulled out the power of his fusion.  He felt his body grow in stature, layers of muscle building on his already athletic frame.  He felt the power of his fusion and its rage as well, summoning its magical fireball attack to send flame arcing over the dark shape crouched over Margarete's supine form and bathing it in searing fire.  There was a loud keening screech from the creature before it burst into flame, its body shriveling and smoking as it collapsed.  Inferno stepped over the crisping body and pulled Margarete from beneath it, holding her up in his four arms, and moving down the passage toward the entrance.  Once there he set Margarete down on the dirt and placed his large hands on her chest, summoning a warming magic to suffuse her with healing and remove the poisons coursing through her unconscious body.  When the warmth subsided, Inferno was released and Yuri picked her up once more, slung her over his back, and carried her back down the small narrow sluiceway tunnel to the outside.  Once he had her outside, he laid her out on the ground and checked her pulse and relief filled him when she opened her eyes and stared at him.

            "It's all right, Maggie; you're outside.  Here," Yuri reached into his trench coat pocket and pulled out a flattened root.  "Thera root.  Take it, it's all I got."

            Margarete took the small greenish brown root and looked closely at it.  

            "It's got mold on it; how long have you had this thing?" she asked.

            Yuri rubbed the back of his neck.  "Well, probably since China," he said and chuckled.  "It's still good. Take it."

            Margarete popped the offending weed into her mouth and chewed, the usually tangy flavor of the root now overshadowed with an earthy moldy flavor.

            "Ugh," Margarete said.  

            "You'll be fine now," Yuri said and looked up at the dark bridge.  "Hey Maggie, how come you have green eyes?  I thought they were blue."

            Margarete chuckled softly.  "Contacts, sonny boy.  Say, what was that thing?" she asked.

            "A guard," Yuri answered.  "Spider," he finished with a grin.  

            "Oh swell.  Ow, that hurt!" Margarete exclaimed as she tried to sit up, but then noticed her chest, covered in blood and her jacket and blouse hanging in tattered shreds.

            "Yeah, yer showin'," Yuri said with a chuckle, then pulled off his trench coat.  "Here wear mine, and Maggie, there's something I need ya to do."

            Margarete put on the coat, securing it with one of Yuri's belts, before looking up at the young fighter's face.  "Yes?"

            "I want you to get the police; tell them to cordon off alla this place.  And then I need you to get some medicines.  That Thera root is all I had; I don't even have any Mana, if you know what I mean.  And then … I can't believe I'm askin' ya but ... explosives, incendiaries.  You can get them, yes?"

            Margarete nodded.  "You think you'll need them?"

            Yuri rolled his shoulders in a shrug.  "Well, the only thing will kill those bastards is fire.  I have limits, especially without Mana leaves.  So you do that for me, okay?"

            Margarete nodded.  "Okay kiddo.  But, you don't go back in there until I return, you got me?

            "Yeah," Yuri said and helped her to her feet.  "But you go for the police first all right?"

            "The police are here," a voice said from above them and Yuri looked up to see Lieutenant Carter and a handful of officers descending the embankment.

            "Oh, you're around are you?"

            Carter nodded.  "And the night watch heard shots.  What is happening?"

            "You go on, Margarete," he said and watched until the beautiful spy was away before turning to Carter.  "We found the killer; or killers.  The shots were from Margarete's gun."

            "The French lady carries a gun?"

            "Yeah, a beautiful lady like that needs protection from us men, ya know?" Yuri said with a smile.

            Carter frowned a moment.  "And does she need protecting from you?" he asked, watching Margarete climb the last few feet of the embankment.

            Yuri laughed.  "_Oh yeah_, but don't tell my fiancé, yes?"

            Carter chuckled and watched as Yuri squatted down on his heels, then he turned to direct a couple of men to alert the local stationhouse to send more constables. When he returned Yuri was still sitting on his heels unmoving.

            "You going to wait here for her?" he asked.

            "I said I would but," Yuri said and stood up, scanning the embankment.  "Is she gone?"

            Carter nodded.  "Yes."

            "Good, I can leave now."

            "You promised you'd wait," the lieutenant reminded him.

            Yuri smiled and said, "I lied.  You don't follow understand?  It's dangerous."

            "I thought you killed it?"

            "No, just the guard.  We made enough racket to alert the nest; I gotta find it before they get too active.  You keep anyone else from going down there, all right?"

            "All right, but I don't like that you are going in alone, Hyuga."

            Yuri shrugged as he put his claws back on.  "Cannot be helped.  Say, are there munitions in any of these warehouses?" he asked and indicated the above buildings with a wave of his hand.

            "Probably in some of them, why?"

            Yuri shook his head.  "Nothing, just wanted to know."

            A moment later Yuri had ducked down and entered the sluiceway passage and a few minutes later he made the main passage, the whole time thinking that munitions and Margarete's explosives could be a bad combination.  He didn't dwell on it however, contenting himself with retracing his path to the split and then listening carefully for any movement. The silence was deep but not complete, as faint sounds ahead could have been either the clinking of metal a great distanced away or the movements of the creatures; Yuri was betting it was his prey and he turned down the passage.

            Margarete knew damned well that Yuri would not wait, she knew him that well.  So time was wasting and she needed a quick ride.  Ahead on the quay was the police car, its driver waiting for Lieutenant Carter.  She approached at a run and jumped into the back seat.  

            "Carter's orders, take me to Alliston Road right away!" she said authoritatively and the driver complied without thinking.

            Along the way, Margarete planned what she was going to need for the upcoming combat and mentally reviewed who she knew and who owed her to get the incendiaries she would need.  By the time they pulled up to Alice's home, she had a plan.  Disembarking the car, she told the driver to wait and ran up the stairs to the front door.  Without knocking, she entered and called out for Alice.  She had lots to do and little time to do it.

            Alice and her mother had retired to the sitting room some hours ago and while her mother sat sewing, Alice read her Book of Flesh, or appeared to do so.  She read the same passage repeatedly, her mind searching out every feeling and intimation she could of Yuri and his whereabouts.  Her psychic abilities were not the strongest and she needed practice it was certain, and while she could feel his presence and knew he was all right, she worried none-the-less.  When Margarete slammed into the vestibule calling out for her, it was almost a relief.  

            "Margarete, is Yuri all right?  Where is he?" she asked even as she opened the sitting room door.

            "He's fine.  I need your help; I need medicines, supplies.  And I need your telephone."

            "All right; I'll get the supplies, the telephone is in here.  Mother?" Alice asked her mother without turning around and ran up the stairs to the bedrooms.

            Mrs. Elliot showed Margarete the telephone and, setting aside her sewing, followed her daughter upstairs.

            "Alice, you're not going with her are you?" she asked as soon as she entered Alice's bedroom.  The young exorcist had disrobed and was pulling on a sturdy skirt and blouse, adding her armored vest and then a jacket.  

            "Of course I am going, mother.  Yuri needs me.  I will be there for him," Alice said and put her Book of Flesh into its special pocket in her jacket.  She snatched the last remaining packets of Thera and Mana that Yuri had saved and placed them in the pocket as well.

            "I am sure it is dangerous, and I would rather ..."

            "No mother.  The _world_ is dangerous; this is just the world.  It's Yuri's world; it's my world.  I am going to marry him and this will be a part of our world.  I am going.  That's final."

            Mrs. Elliot sighed before offering her daughter a kiss on the cheek.  "I guess I will have to get used to this; but I do not like it.  Please be careful daughter."

            Alice smiled up at her mother, realizing at last that her mother was trying to make peace in her own heart as well.  "I will mother.  I love you," she said and ran from the bedroom.

            Downstairs Margarete had just hung up the telephone when Alice rejoined her.  

            "Say Margarete, what happened to your clothing?" 

            "I got attacked; Yuri lent me his coat," she answered, picking fastidiously at the smelly trench coat.  "I'm afraid I'll owe him a new one now too, as I've gotten blood all over it.

            "Are you still hurt?" Alice asked, making motions to use magic to heal her friend.

            "No, no Yuri used a fusion to heal me.  But we've got to go.  We need Thera and Mana and I need fresh ammo; something with more punch.  And torches!  It's dark down there!"

            "I have a little medicine, but surely not enough; so, where to?"

            Margarete headed out the door to the waiting police car.  "I've got a contact a little way off ... over on Piccadilly."

            Alice thought about the distance as she joined Margarete in the back seat of the car.  "That's a long way from the wharf, Margarete."

            "It's not too far, and it will be all right; we're in a police car.  Hit it, Eddie and lay on the noise; we gotta hurry," the spy said as she settled herself again in the back seat and the driver pulled away from the little Edwardian house, putting on speed as he headed for Prince Albert Road.

            Yuri paused at the split in the passageway, listening carefully then decided to head left following the dark path as it went further downward.  He could tell that he was heading for the old sewer tunnels when he hit a sudden drop and heard running water.  Casting about he found a pebble which he dropped, waiting for the plop; when it hit water Yuri shook his head. 

            'Long way down; must be a fifty yards,' he thought the looked up, his black eyes scanning the darkness ahead; the passage appeared to continue past the drop before it turned down another passageway.  'Shit, how far is the damned nest?' he wondered and then jumped over the intervening space to continue along the dark tunnel.  

            It was another few minutes after he made the turn that he came to a ladder in the stone wall of the passage.  He climbed up the ladder until he reached a wooden reinforced door.  He gave it an experimental shove but it proved locked from above so he dropped back down to the lower level.  With a shrug, he continued down the passage.

            Frustration was beginning to set in just as he came to another opening.  Yuri hunched down and dropped to one knee, scanning the interior of the chamber.  It was vaulted and tiered and had obviously been a storage facility of some kind in the past.  And was used as such now for the tiers were full of silver-white and grey cocoons, their sticky silks covering the niches in which they lie and along each cocoon was another shaped very much like a human being.  Yuri ground his teeth.

            'Murder my ass,' he thought, 'the Captain don't know the half of it!'  Black eyes glittering with their own light, Yuri scanned the chamber for company and found it just out of reach.  Black and brown legged, bodies almost the same size as the guard he had fought, the spiders were rolling up a cocoon and placing it near another egg sack; they had managed to find food that night after all.  

            With a mental sigh and adjusting his Nightbird Claws, Yuri leaped from the dark corridor, jumping over several smaller egg sacks and leaping for the body of the first spider.  He landed on the first spider's hairy upper abdomen; grasping a handful of wiry spider hair, he flipped his Nightbird Claw around and drove it downward into its body.  The spider jumped, trying to dislodge its attacker and Yuri went for a wild ride before finally using the one claw to stab his way forward toward the spider's head.  He straddled the spider between its front legs and stabbed down repeatedly until the spider finally shuddered and collapsed, dead.  The other spider now came scuttling forward, its fangs dripping with poison and Yuri vaulted clear of the dead one in time to avoid getting ripped by the attacking fangs.  

            Yuri crouched low, watching for an opportunity to attack the remaining spider, but the creature was fast and had jumped and turned toward him in a heartbeat.  Grinding his teeth Yuri ran in, still in a crouch, slipping under the spider's front legs.  With one hand, he grabbed the pedipalp, holding on for dear life and with his Nightbird Claw, began hacking at the creature's mouth and poisonous fang.  The spider retaliated with a swipe of its leg, slamming into Yuri then prodding him, trying to dislodge the fighter from his handhold.  For his part Yuri kept striking at the fang until he severed it, black blood flowing from the creature's mouth and down his arm, then he let go the pedipalp and ducked underneath, slashing at the chest as he went.  Once under the creature's abdomen he stood up, pushing with all the strength of his legs and plunged his Nightbird Claw into its gut, puncturing the lung, connecting ganglion and ripping through into the lower gut.  He then rolled out of the way as the spider shuddered and fell, its legs curling up beneath it.  Yuri stood panting for a moment before wiping ichor off his face with his arm and turning around to scan the dark chamber. There were no other spiders, only egg sacks and cocoons with food.  

            Yuri shook his head in disgust.  'He thinks he's only got a handful of dead; shit he's got bodies he doesn't know about,' Yuri thought and kicked his way through the nearby egg sacks to the next chamber opening; this passage sloped downward and lead further underground toward the old sewer system.  Somewhere down there Yuri knew he'd find the real problem, the egg layer herself.

            Koudelka had talked about the underground passages beneath Nemeton with details that left Yuri's head swimming.  He thought at first that she was informing Halley, but after the half-pint had fallen asleep, she kept speaking; covering the first corridor leading from the caretakers building to the underground septic tank, the holy shrine at its base, and then the follow-up tunnel that they discovered leading underneath the abattoir and back toward Patrick Hayworth's chambers.  There had also been one leading off from the main underground shrine that lead to the graveyard.  Yuri knew that one from their traipsing through the tunnel to find the ancient graveyard.  That had been beyond a second doorway leading off from the shrine, but there had been others that didn't appear on Koudelka's map.  One lead beneath the herbal garden, a side passage collapsed from age and subsidence.  There was another that Koudelka mentioned as well, leading off the main tunnel system, reaching back into the mainland soil, digging deeply into the earth.  That one had lead off from the ancient burial site, a side passage away from the Float systems that were buried beneath Nemeton proper.  Koudelka said she tried reaching those passages before, when Edward, James and she had been there, but the door had been blocked and the old hermit Roger had said a horrible secret resided there.  She had assumed it was the Float, Neameeto; later, as she talked to Yuri, she was not so sure.  

            "There are many other passages leading back into the rich earth from Neameeto, Yuri.  We couldn't explore them because the passages had collapsed.  After Edward left, Roger and I buried an old manuscript of James's in St. Daniel Scotus's old grave.  Roger told me that the lands around Nemeton dated back to the Stone Age and passages opened, filled and reopened over the centuries.  He didn't say if he knew how to get to those beyond the collapsed passages, but he might.  At any rate, we fought many creatures that were changed by the evils of Nemeton; not just ghosts and spirits like your Amon, but living creatures that had changed with the powers residing there."

            Yuri remembered thinking that he wouldn't want to meet anything so changed, beyond what they had already, but now he wondered if what he was fighting was just such a creature.  

            The passage ahead made a sharp turn downward and he started to slide, his boots scraping on a mixture of dirt and stone.  Grabbing out for any handhold he could, he grasped an old pipe and then plunged his left hand into the flaky stonework, embedding the Nightbird Claw into the passage wall, stopping his forward slide.  Scanning ahead he listened intently and could hear the rush of water again almost like a breath the way it echoed off the stone, and a little ahead a dark opening leading to the left.  Pulling his claw free of the stonework, he let go of the pipe and slid down to the opening.  He jammed one leg into the opening as he slid past, stopping before he got too far past the lip of the next chamber and then pulled himself up and in to the dark chamber opening.  Crawling on his hands and knees, he inched his way into the inky darkness and listened with every pore in his body.  What he heard made him break out in a sweat, his heart suddenly beating so hard he thought his chest would burst.  Ahead in the dark chamber was a chirring, scraping, chittering sound that could only be what he was looking for, and it wasn't alone.

            Yuri crawled a little further into the dark tunnel, finally pausing near the next opening.  The chamber ahead was dark, but he could hear the susurration of movement, the sounds of insects scuttling about in the chamber.  With his altered vision he took a look and felt his heart freeze: the chamber was a vaulted area with several other openings leading off from it and fanning out into lower passageways while the chamber itself was floor to ceiling in egg sacks with one gigantic monstrosity laying more even as he watched and others rolling the eggs away to secure them against the walls; literally hundreds of the creatures rolling hundreds of eggs.  Yuri wondered what devil he had pissed off this time.


	9. And Things That Go Boom

Chapter 9: And Things That Go Boom

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except a really annoying cat.  

I offer a warm and heartfelt thank you to those brave souls who have been reading this piece.  And especially to those who sent me reviews. Thank you, thank you.  *kowtows*

WARNING!  Oh, more of the same.  If you don't get it by now ...  And Kitty: Grab your Plushy Yuri!

            Alice waited in the police car while Margarete stepped into the little items shop on the corner of Piccadilly and Hartford Down.  The proprietor was an old acquaintance that owed Margarete many, many favors which Margarete, with a smile, refused to go into details over.  She happily leapt from the car, waiving airily at Eddie to remain while she did her shopping and Alice wondered how much was Margarete's ebullient attitude and sheer chutzpah.  While she waited, she took out her book and refreshed her memory with several spells and said a prayer for Yuri; something nagged at the back of her mind regarding her fiancé and she wondered if he was all right.  Surely, there was nothing that could fill with fear the heart of the man who had saved the world; well, perhaps the police, but that was different.  After a few minutes of effort though she was unable to bring her prayer to fruition and instead turned to the driver, asking him questions about his work and Captain Cashiel.

            After an hour Margarete re-emerged from the items shop and directed Eddie to return to Queenithe Docks and while he drove she divided up the spoils. She had a small packet with assorted medicines and a canvas bag brimming with small canister looking items that she told Alice were incendiary hand grenades while the long leather wrapped tube was a special weapon that her friend was carrying for someone else and which now belonged to Margarete.

            "A rocket launcher - what is that?" Alice queried but Margarete merely laughed.

            "Oh-oh no, I won't explain.  But sonny boy will love it."

            "Why?" Alice eyed the long leather tube with suspicion.

            "Well, you know he just _loves_ explosions …" and Margarete could not repress the giggles.

            Alice frowned at her companion before offering up a tentative chuckle.  "Well he does actually, but usually when he's the one making them."

            "Ah, ah-hah," the beautiful spy laughed while the car progressed up The Strand toward the docks.  

            A few minutes later, the police car pulled up once more to Queenithe Dock and the police cordon.  A half a hundred officers blocked every access to the dock and an army car was pulled to one side with a member of the General Staff speaking to Captain Cashiel and Lieutenant Carter.  

            "We better be ready for trouble, Alice," Margarete said, pulling the canvas bag's strap over her shoulder and putting the launcher on her lap.

            "Do you think anything has happened yet?" Alice asked, straining to see past the cordon.

            "I doubt it; too quiet by half.  But with Yuri …"

            The car pulled up next to the cordon and Margarete and Alice debarked and made their way past the platoon of constables.  Carter spotted them and waived them over before speaking quickly to Cashiel and joining the two women.

            "Anything happening yet, Lieutenant?" Margarete asked.

            "Not yet Miss, but the military is in a huff.  They've got goods in the warehouse and they don't want to cede authority to the Captain."

            "Well, that's too bad."  Margarete scanned the darkness of the dockside.  "Where's Yuri?"

            Carter looked embarrassed.  "Well, miss, he..."

            Margarete shrugged.  "I got it; he didn't wait - thought so.  Let's go Alice," Margarete pushed past Lieutenant Carter but he grabbed her arm.

            "Wait.  There's been some activity; it might be the monster hunter."

            "Where?" Margarete was suddenly even more alert and her eyes were sparking with excitement.  "The warehouses?"

            Carter shook his head.  "Underground.  There was some kind of vibration a few minutes ago.  Don't know really.  The Captain wants everyone away from here."

            "Too bad!"  Margarete said and shook loose the lieutenant's restraining hand.  "Come on Alice, we've got work to do!" and she began to run across the expanse to the dock and the underground sluiceway.

            Yuri squatted on his heels his head resting against the dank stonework of the passage, his eyes stared blankly up at the unseen ceiling.  To his right the opening to the vaulted chamber, to his left the way back to the surface and safety.  Right now he didn't feel safe; right now he wished he were back with Alice, caressing her beautiful body with his fighter's hands and making babies; right now he wished desperately that he believed in god.  He had lost any faith he had last year, not that he was a staunch believer in anything but his own two fists, but now he wished he could trade in just a little on that lack of faith.  One giant female was sucking on the prime rich meat that the guards had brought her; one female larger than the one in his nightmares was disgorging egg sack after egg sack.  Yuri knew that in nature, a spider queen could birth a thousand eggs in a day.  He briefly wondered how many this one had laid, then shook his head.  

            'Nope, doesn't matter.  It's the hundreds that are between me and her that matter.' Very softly he breathed an 'I love you Alice,' then slowly turned toward the chamber, at the same time he reached for the fusion, a demon spawn of fiery death for these creatures, a monster of hellish proportions and one that Yuri only used when he was facing overwhelming odds: Forron, Lord of Fire, Lord of Blades and Lord of Hell.

            The fusion took him, swelling his body to nearly seven feet in height, his arms, now four, growing in strength and with nails like blades extending from each claw-like hand.  A ridge of blades extended from his back, protecting his massive neck and head, and, instead of skin, he wore a scaly red hide that was more like armor.  A roar of defiance and challenge issued from fire black lips and Yuri/Forron leapt from the passage and landed amidst the chittering hordes.  Instantly hairy and scaly bodies congregated, climbing over their brethren as the guardians and protectors of the nest charged at the massive fusion soul.

            Yuri swung massive arms, slamming into bodies as he plowed gleefully into the fray, his heart pumping and his roar of defiance and challenge echoing in the vaulted chamber and rumbling down the side passages.  Each swing of muscular arms brought death to the guards; each slice of razor sharp claws bathed him in ichor until Forron's red hide was as black as pitch.  But the numbers where overwhelming, and they kept coming and fatigue was a factor in how long Yuri could keep up the fight.  He had battled his way around the chamber, trying to reach the Queen but was no closer now than fifteen minutes ago.  In disgust, he jumped up onto a pile of egg sacks and cocoons and summoned his magic.

            Forron's specialty was fire, but unlike Inferno's from earlier that evening, Forron commanded the Gates of Hell and Yuri reached deep within to fuel the magic.  His body began to burn with the beginning of the summons, his blood boiling and his scream of defiance turned to one of pain as the strength of his body, blood and mind was taken to open the floodgate of fire.  Pouring up from the wellspring of his soul, from the very ground itself, igniting the egg sacks, the cocoons and rushing like a flood of flame over the guards, Yuri's Hellfire magicks flowed and seared and inundated the chamber, scorching and scouring the cavern walls, shaking the foundations and offering charred death to anything it touched.  Long minutes passed as the fireflood coursed its way through vault and passage and finally reducing down to crackling flickers over charred bodies before Yuri could breathe and take note of the damage.  Hundreds lie before him, their smoking bodies a testament to his fusion's power; egg sacks, cocoons and spiders: all dead.  But the Queen was gone, fled down some other passage.

            Yuri released the fusion and growled, his lips curled back both in anger and disgust as he climbed over the carnage for the nearest passageway down.  At the entrance, he listened for sounds of the Queen's movements.  There were echoes reverberating through the vault and Yuri could not tell which passage she had escaped down.  With a grunt of disgust, he chose one.

            "Why is it never easy?" he muttered.

            Yuri took the left side passage leading further down into darkness.  He felt his way along, using one leather-gloved hand and his fusion aided night vision.  It had grown well beyond dark when he entered another chamber, its inky depths filled to the ceiling with egg sacks and cocoons.  Yuri sighed, leaning wearily against the chamber wall.  He hesitated using his fusion again, even if it meant leaving the eggs for later since he didn't have the supplies to renew his magical or physical strengths.  He pushed himself erect once more and checked out the chamber for other passageways but found only one, and it was collapsed with rubble, so he returned to the exit and headed back for the main chamber.

            The next passage also led downward, curving around to abruptly end at a drop into cold, dark rushing water.  With a sigh he turned back and wondered just how many miles of underground sewers London had and did they even know themselves?   It would remain a moot question as he took the last passage; this one curving around and back to his left before splitting in two once again.  With a frustrated sigh, he took the left hand passage.  He was rewarded with guards about a hundred feet down, and with the clacking of their claws on the stones of the passageway, Yuri knew he was facing more than one.

            Yuri backpedaled and crouched down, waiting for the first one to get within striking range.  He waited for the creature to attack before striking with his claws, not the soft but difficult to reach head or body, but the foreleg, slicing the nearest appendage of the first spider and causing a shriek of pain that hurt his ears.  He made another pass, this time severing the limb altogether and the creature, black ichor spewing from its leg, scuttled back into its oncoming brethren.  Yuri took a few more steps back, summoning out his fusion soul once more, this time the lesser earth soul Tigerion.  Raging Tiger's magic was not strong but with a small passage and only a few foes, Yuri did not feel the need to waste un-replaceable magical energy.  Besides, an earth attack would clear the way for him to move forward.

            'Heh-heh,' he mentally laughed to himself.  'Bowling for spiders.'

            He reached inside, drawing out the energies again, his lithe tiger form hunching down in the narrow passage.  Suddenly there was a storm in his hands as stones went flying, careening down the passage and smashing against the oncoming guards, and rumbling on into the distance.  He heard the distinctive crunch of exoskeleton and the scree of their pain and the passage was cleared.  He released the fusion and ran on.

            Margarete and Alice made the sluiceway entrance before Carter and the police could stop them.  On hands and knees, the two crawled into the dark tunnel and when they finally emerged in the passageway, Margarete stood and pulled a torch from her pack.  With a flick, they suddenly had light and Margarete waived it up and down to scan the passageway.

            "I liked it better in the dark," she said with a laugh.  "Come on, this way," and she started ahead while Alice quickly flicked dirt from her skirt, checked her medical supply packet and then followed.  

            Margarete stopped at the split in the passage, skirting around the charred remains of the guard, then flicked her torch to scan the darkness ahead before entering, the scuffs in the dirt showing where Yuri had passed.  Alice covered her nose to block the stench but bravely followed Margarete past the dead creature and into the side passage.  They moved ahead until they came to the drop into the old sewers and the rush of water far below them.

            "Do you think he went down there?" Alice asked, watching the dark rush of water revealed in the torch.

            "I doubt it.  The kid's not the greatest swimmer in the world, and he'd probably drown in that fast water."

            Alice nodded.  "Yes, you're right of course.  I guess I'm nervous not to remember that.  Shall we go on then?"

            Margarete nodded.  "Take a running jump Alice," she said and followed her own instructions to cross the intervening space.  A second later Alice landed beside her and they continued down the passage.  After a few minutes, they came to the ladder and beyond, the chamber opening.  But the passage was blocked with fallen stones from the now collapsed roof and Margarete scowled not wanting to return empty-handed.

            "We'll have to try again from above.  There must be a way," she told her companion.

            "What about the ladder?  We can climb that again; maybe you can shoot the lock off?"

            "It's more than a lock Alice.  Something's blocking it from above," Margarete said once she had climbed up and investigated. "We'll have to go back to the beginning."

            "All right," Alice said with a look of disappointment on her heart-shaped face.  She looked down the dark passage and clasped her hands to her breast, her eyes closed for a moment in prayer.  "I only hope Yuri is all right."

            Margarete's laugh sounded hollow in the stone passage.  "Ah-hah, you know Yuri.  He's harder to kill than a cockroach.  Let's go."

            Yuri ran until he ran out of passage.  In the dark he wondered if he had missed another opening, but just as he was about to double back he heard the scrap of movement ahead.  With eyes piercing the darkness he moved onward, his ears straining to discern any more movement.  He could feel his heart beating hard and fast in his chest and briefly wondered how hard a human heart could beat before it broke, one of those passing thoughts, like the brief feel of air on his skin.

            'An opening ahead?' he wondered and quickened his pace.

            Another fifty feet brought him to a tunnel heading upward and the tunnel itself was stonework with braces in metal.  Yuri was confused until he saw another tunnel to his right that had iron rails lying side by side.  

            'Damn,' he thought.  'They were gonna build a railroad underground?'  He shook his head at the daft English and climbed up the passage.  This lead to a wooden platform and a metal cage with pulleys; he followed the pulleys with his eyes and noted they were for an elevator of some sort, but as the cage was large he figured it was for cargo.  Looking further, he couldn't spot any of his prey but moved ahead anyway.  Just beyond the cargo lifter, he met some more guards.  These were bigger than the first one, and their fangs dripped with poison.  Older, stronger, with a firmer exoskeleton, these would not be easy to kill. 

            Yuri stepped back onto the wooden platform.  His face pinched into a grimace as he assessed what he could do.  'Gotta go for the fire again, damn it!' he mentally growled and reached once more inside, into that dark place in his mind and soul that held his fusions.  Latching onto Forron once more, he melded his soul with the fusion and again launched a four armed attack on the lead spider guard.  This time the spider fended him off, its exoskeleton harder to pierce and Forron's heavy arms and bladed claws were no match, merely scoring the smooth plating.

            Yuri moved further back beyond the platform, blocking the entrance, the guards following; four now stood between him and the far exit-way and the Queen.  He growled again, a deep rumbling that matched the magicks pouring into his hands from his mind, body and soul.  Fire erupted, coursing along his blood, along his arms and bursting forth from his chest; hellfire erupting from the ground, burning, searing and charring its way over the wooden platform, turning it to cinder; through the guards leaving black ash in its wake; down the connecting corridor and up the elevator shaft and out, exploding into the early morning darkness.  

            Margarete and Alice crawled back through the sluiceway and out onto the riverbank.  Above them the berm was suddenly alight from a blazing fire and both women ran up the embankment to see flames shooting up beyond a nearby warehouse. 

            "Damn that kid!  He just couldn't wait!" Margarete cursed and ran for the warehouse.  "Alice!  Cover me!" she yelled and Alice followed in her wake as best she could.

            The police cordon was tight around the street but inside with the warehouses it was the army.  Margarete dodged speeding army trucks as they headed for the ranks of warehouses running along Upper Thames Road and the blazing fire that lit the night sky.  However, when they reached the warehouse, the army had blocked the entrance and soldiers were surrounding the building.  With a curl to her lips, Margarete skidded to a halt looking for another access.  

            "What about that one?" Alice asked, pointing to the darkened warehouse a few buildings down.  There was no traffic around it and Margarete could barely make out an access alleyway along side.

            "Great Alice – let's go!"  The pair took off, prayers and hopes lending wings to their feet as they crossed the intervening space with no deterrence and slipped into the alleyway between the warehouses.  Margaret loosed a pair of grenades from her pack and then removed the launcher from its leather tube, slinging it from her shoulder by the strap.

            "Be ready for anything, Alice.  And watch out for Yuri; he's gotta be here somewhere," Margarete instructed before steeping out behind the building and into a conflagration.  Fire roared up in a geyser from the ground and Margarete could barely make out what would have been a cargo loader. The metal had started to melt and dripped down into the flames, feeding the fire further.  If Yuri was beneath that...  Then she saw the black shapes moving beyond the fire, crisscrossing the flames and heading for the warehouse.  Margarete shoved a small missile into her rocket launcher as she headed off at a brisk run.

            The rear wall of the warehouse was beginning to burn; the dark figures crawling over the flaming debris and into the dark recesses.  Margarete with Alice behind her approached the warehouse wall; Margarete looked inside through a broken window but the dark of the interior was difficult to plumb so she instead pointed at a burning doorway.

            "We can get in through there.  Watch the flames; and watch whatever the hell those shapes are," she said to Alice and then dodged into the warehouse.  Once inside Margarete did a quick assessment.  To all sides were large cases, stacked to nearly the roof, many with labels in foreign languages, and some in English.  These she ignored, instead stepping out into the first cross corridor amongst the high stacked cases.  A sound above and beyond brought her to tense alertness. 

            "Alice, reach into my holster and take the Luger.  I showed you how to use one of these things in China, do you remember?" 

            Alice, feeling her heart suddenly jump into her throat, nodded dumbly and reached for the weapon.

            "O-okay Margarete, I have it," Alice said finally once the cold weapon was in her hand, her delicate fingers encircling the trigger guard.

            "Be careful, girlfriend and don't shoot yourself," Margarete warned and then moved ahead.  Alice, the gun wobbling in her hands, followed.

            Margarete, listening carefully, strode forward, her eyes scanning up and down the stacks of crates and cases.  Dark shadows stretched across the interior floor, and deeper shadows filled the spaces above.  Flickering orange light backlit them as they moved through the stacks, and elongated the shadows, making them dance and gyrate to some mad dance.  Noises above her made Margarete pause, her fingers searching out the handle of the launcher while Alice, her arms straight out in front of her, pointed the Luger at the shadows.

            "What are we hearing, Margie?" she whispered, a quaver still in her voice.

            "I don't know.  Whatever those shapes were that came out of the fire; something Yuri stirred up," Margarete answered and silently prayed it wasn't anything like the guard Yuri had dispatched earlier.  "Keep your eyes open and the gun ready," she said even as she stepped into the deep shadows between two stacks of crates.

            Alice kept the gun raised in her shaking hands and stepped into the shadows as well, passing Margarete in the darkness and rounding another stack of crates.  Her nerves were quickly fraying and she breathed a silent prayer for Yuri's safety and her own.  She wished Yuri were there, jumping down out of the darkness to startle her and laugh uproariously as she swatted at him with her book.  He'd love that, the oaf.  However, it wasn't a book in her hands, but Margarete's Luger and its cold steel made her hands sweat and the tension was making her heart beat faster than normal.  She wanted nothing more than to be home with Yuri.

            'When did I think I could do this on my own?' she thought.  'Bistritz?  Without _him_; with only Zhuzhen and occasionally Margarete.  I'm scared to death,' Alice thought, and she passed another stack of crates.  The minutes stretched out and her heart beat so hard and fast in her chest Alice thought it would burst.  She quickly scanned the next intersection of crates and crossed the darkened space, turning to take another isle when a deeper darkness seemed to envelope her.  She stopped and looked around, then up toward the roof.  Above her, shadows moved swiftly across the crates, their movements so quick that Alice could not follow them.  But she knew instantly she was in danger.  She raised the Luger and fired.  

            Margarete heard the gunshots and looked around for Alice.  Gritting her jaw, she turned around to follow the resounding shots but another sound above her made her look up toward the roof.  Dark shadows scuttled across the spaces between the crates and suddenly Margarete's heart was slamming into her chest.  Calling out, she pulled the pin on her grenade and threw it up and over the first stack of crates and then ran back the way she came,  flinging herself  down to the ground just as the grenade exploded.  

            "Alice!  Get going!  Get out!"  Margarete screamed once she was to her feet and saw the ruination of the nearby crates and the large creatures crawling over them and their fallen comrades.  "Alice!"

            Margarete grabbed up the launcher, taking a few strides to her left, putting another stack of crates to her back and aimed the launcher at the oncoming creatures.  With a whoosh, the rocket shot out and exploded on impact, the concussion sending Margarete bowling over as the crates behind her shifted and scattered.  Shaking her head Margarete climbed to her knees, pulling the launcher up to use as a brace; the area she had shot at was gone; rubble and smoking ruin replaced crates and creatures.  But she could see in the darkness above that more were coming.  Climbing to her feet, she scrambled over the scattered crates, taking a left hand direction hoping to run into Alice or come to the opposite door.

            A few yards ahead, she saw another creature jump onto the crates and she pulled another grenade from her pack, pulling the pin and throwing it even as she kept running, turning again at a left angle.  The explosion shocked her ears and she was momentarily deafened so she didn't hear the second roaring explosion behind her.  Fire was suddenly enveloping the inside rear of the warehouse and when Margarete finally turned to check on pursuers she saw the flames flickering up the back wall, and jumping onto the nearby crates like a thing alive.  Above, in the rafters were the creatures; spiders.  With a shudder she stopped and pulled up the rocket launcher again, praying that this was not going to be the end of her career and sent another rocket exploding to the roof.  

            The next moment was lost for Margarete in a confusion of flashing images, roaring explosions and her own screams.  In a heartbeat, the rocket exploded in the rafters, sending the roof exploding upwards into the night with large multi-legged bodies scattering like chafe.  Along with that was another explosion of brilliant bloody fire and the entire warehouse was suddenly engulfed in flames; many smaller detonations went off like popping guns then another explosion that tore the wall and roof off the warehouse and sent them crashing down inside.  Margarete saw the fire, saw the falling roof, and ran for her life, scrambling over shattered and scattered cases and crates, her launcher abandoned behind her, her heart beating hard in her chest as her mind screamed to run, to live or to die!  Another deafening explosion, bigger than the first sent her crashing to the floor and when she tried to rise, a dark shape loomed out of the conflagration, flying through the flaming hell and landing on her, pressing her slight body to the floor.  Yet another explosion sent her mind into numbness as the roof crashed down, burying her.

            Alice had heard Margarete's yelled warning but her own legs had already decided to run, carrying her through the maze of crates to the front entrance even as an explosion ripped through the air sending shockwaves over the warehouse floor.  Alice barely kept her feet as she tried the door, but it was locked; Alice sent a scattering of bullets into the lock, but when that didn't dislodge it she stopped, her chest heaving for breath and summoned her book from her pocket; the small tome floated upwards, expanding as it rose, and then flipped open its pages stopping at a page half way through.  Alice closed her eyes for a brief moment, setting her mind to the task of magic, and then offered her prayer.  White light enveloped her before exploding outward hitting the door, pushing it off its hinges before it exploded into the night.  Even as the door came to rest on the ground outside Alice was grabbing her book and running.  Soldiers and police were outside, and she yelled at them as she fled the warehouse, screaming to run.  The police pulled back and the majority of soldiers as well, a small group staying to guard the warehouse exit.  But in the next minute flames exploded from the roof, concussions of sound bowling over the handful of soldiers near the door, and then more explosions joining the first, this from the neighboring warehouse and the rear of the building.  Seconds later the entire building was engulfed in flames and collapsing in on itself, screams of dying creatures joining Alice's high-pitched wail as she cried out for Margarete who was still inside the now destroyed building.


	10. Regrets

Chapter 10:   Regrets

Disclaimer: Don't own Shadow Hearts.  I do own a copy of the soundtrack which is killer!  

WARNING!  FIVE ALARM FIRE!  (Got your attention, yes?)  ADULT SITUATIONS ... yadda yadda yadda. (Only because if I didn't warn ya, FF.net would kill me!)

            Margarete awoke to darkness and a heavy weight on her chest.  She opened eyes that could see nothing in the darkness.  She tried moving and managed to get one hand up to her chest to find another body lying on top of her, its muscular frame covering her and the head lying on her chest.  A touch on the shoulder told her that it had to be Yuri, but how he had gotten here...?   A further exploration garnered her sticky fingers as her hand ran into a river of blood flowing from the back of his head and down his shoulders to even more blood and a wooden beam crossing his lower back, pinning them both down.

            'Ah shit kid.  What did you do?' she breathed as she drew back her hand and tried to squeeze her fingers between them to reach the coat pocket at her hip.  She had stuffed medicines into the pocket before entering the warehouse, if she could reach them Yuri would have a fighting chance and so would she.

            Margarete finally got her fingers into the pocket of Yuri's trench coat; the belt he had used to cinch it to her thin waist was narrow but it had prevented her getting to the pocket with ease, however she managed to slip her fingers into the pocket and pull out whatever they came to - a packet of seeds had come open and she hoped and prayed it was the right kind as she put a pinch of the seeds into Yuri's mouth, shoving them past his teeth and as far down his throat as she could reach.  He didn't react; he wasn't breathing. 

            "Don't you die on me you son of a bitch," she growled and snagged another pinch of seeds pushing them between his lips.  "Don't you leave me to explain to Alice what a fucked up mess I made of things!"  She waited for some reaction, any reaction and when she didn't get one she grabbed his shoulder and shook him, tears beginning to streak down her grimy face.  "Yuri..."

            Alice was screaming.  Alice was screaming and he was standing in the Graveyard, his hands stuffed into the belts around his waist and he was dead.  Why else would he be here if he hadn't finally bought it?  Yuri stood at the Gates and listened to the outside world as it screamed and screeched and howled past.  Usually he ignored the noises coming from the world when he was here, the sights and sounds of the Graveyard being enough to capture his attention, especially since he could be attacked by any roving soul.  But now the sounds captivated him; the world, _his_ world was beyond the Gate and the Gate was closed.  How the hell was he going to get out of this mess?

            With an inelegant shrug he turned back to the Graveyard and the waiting stones; each of the grave markers stood taller than his 5'8" and the symbols were glowing.  He wasn't sure if that was a good thing, but if he were dead, wouldn't the Fusion Souls go back to their Graves?  Down the path to his right was the Mausoleum and the four floating Masks; he had defeated them last year, taking back his life and Alice's soul, but they still floated like idiotic sentries.  The Mausoleum doors, huge bronze encrusted things, stood open.  That was unusual, but if he were dead ...  And beyond that was the Gate to his memories, his island of peace in this hellish place.  That Gate was closed as well. 

            "Well, I guess I fucked up royally this time," he muttered.  "What now?"

            He kicked at the ground and walked down the path toward the Mausoleum and the waiting Masks.

            "I swear if they say a word I'm gonna ..."

            The four Masks hung like silent sentinels, their faces frozen in the same attitude of surprise that they had worn the last time he was here in the Graveyard.  That had been last year when he had faced off against them and defeated Atman.  He looked back at the Darkness gravestone and the small white marker next to it.  Atman's grave.  It had almost been Alice's.  He shuddered before turning back to the masks.

            "Well, nothing to say?" he goaded them but they remained silent, floating enigmas.  "Not going to rub it in, eh?  Too bad!"

            He pushed past them and climbed the last step to the Mausoleum door.  Inside had awaited Atman, Death in its ugliest form.  He remembered the misshapen face, it's hideous out-of-place eyes and mouth and the horrid stench that came from it when he defeated it; death smelled sweeter.  Yuri looked up at the doors, rimed in faded bronze and twined about with bare roots hanging from above.  The Mausoleum was built of old and cracked stone, ancient trees overshadowed it in another time and their gnarled and grizzly branches and roots had become a part of the façade.   He hesitated at the entrance, fascinated by the miasma of age and death that surrounded the place.  Is that what he felt inside, really?  He had never given it thought; avoided thinking as much as possible most times.  He only did so now to avoid entering the Mausoleum.  He really didn't want to enter Death's doorway.  He wanted to live; to love and to fight.  He stood on the top step and stared into the dark recesses of the Mausoleum and reflected on his short life.  Isn't that what you're supposed to do when you die, he thought.

            "Man I am fucked up if I need to think about what I done with myself," he growled.  "I shoulda been with Alice; making love, making a family.  But no!  I gotta be the fucking hero and save London from those damn bugs!  And then I pull Maggie's pretty ass from the fire," he paused remembering Margarete; her lovely face, voluptuous body, vibrant soul. Yeah, he liked her.  She was fun to be with; had been a good friend when he hadn't expected it of her.  So why was he thinking of her right now? 

            "Oh yeah, I was saving her from blowin' herself to hell," he laughed.  "I shoulda fucked her at least once before I got killed though." 

            He shrugged and laughed, turning to face the Graveyard.  'Shoulda done a lot of things before I bought it," he said to himself.  "Shoulda made love to Alice; shoulda gone back to China and chased out those damn Japanese."  He laughed at himself.  "Lot o' shoulda's ... too late now I guess."  He looked back at the Mausoleum door and shook his head.  "No, not yet.  Not going in there yet," he said and stepped down to the verge leading to the Gate of Self to his left.  It too was dark and locked but he leaned on the gate, looking beyond it to the dim sunset still frozen in time.

            "Like me, stuck in one place forever," he said with a quirk to his lip.  "I didn't wanna grow up as a kid, wanted dad to be there, and then I didn't wanna remember _being_ a kid; too much pain.  Wanted to die when my folks died; wanted to forget myself in the Graveyard, bury myself so I couldn't turn into a monster.  Wanted to run away from the pain of livin'."  Leaning on the Gate he turned a brief glance toward the exit way.  "Is that what I'm doin' now?  Running away?  How bad did I get hurt, anyway?"

            He remembered fighting in the sewer, sending searing flames to char and burn the guards.  He remembered when the flames of his magic receded; Yuri was standing on the smoking ground, the burnt wooden platform mere ash at his feet.  The skeleton of the cargo lift glowed with the heat of his fire, but several dark shapes were using it to climb up to the surface.  With a growl Yuri released his fusion and sprinted across the space leaping for the lower rungs.  His hands grasped the metal and he screamed in agony as the near molten metal scorched his hands.  Dropping back he stifled a further cry of pain as he grabbed another fusion soul, one he knew could bring him to the surface above.  

            Darkness took his soul as he summoned the fusion, darkness and magic and not a little hatred for the creatures that he was fighting.  His body became wrapped in shadows and his visage was a reflection of the darkness that was his own soul.  Death Emperor swept open his leathery wings and launched his thin frame into the hot air, a few strong downbeats carrying him up the access shaft and into the conflagration that Forron's fire had made of the upper world.  The dark shapes of spiders still climbed out of the sewers and were scuttling across the clearing to a nearby warehouse.  He heard shouts from men beyond the buildings as he swooped over the rooftop and scanned the grounds below.

            Soldiers were formed into troops and were surrounding the buildings; another was set to fight the fires burning up the walls of the next warehouse.  Yuri/Death Emperor flicked one wing and dove into the shadows between warehouses and landed on the roof. He bent down and with taloned claws, ripped up the metal panels that made up the roof, revealing darkness eclipsed with orangey flames as the fire burned within now as well.  Below he saw the scuttling spiders in their hordes and the almost blinding white that was Alice as she walked up the isles of cases.  His black eyes squinted against her soul's energy; even unused, she glowed with an ethereal holiness that hurt his eyes.  Just beyond the exorcist was a puddle of blue that Yuri knew was Margarete.  She was raising something, preparing to throw.  

            An explosion followed Margarete's toss and Yuri knew she was packing explosives; the flames burning up the nearby warehouse behind him reminded him that not all the cases were harmless and he mentally cursed as he saw her waving some sort of tube.  In another moment another explosion rendered the roof he was standing on shattered fragments and he beat his wings to keep from falling down into the hell that the crazy spy had made.  But then that same roof began to crumble and break and fall straight for the beautiful spy and Yuri dove for her, his roar of warning lost amidst the exploding munitions that chose to ignite behind him.  The last thing he saw was a surprised Margarete as he slammed into her as the roof crashed down on top of him.

            Yuri sighed.  "Well, unless she's got a Talisman of Mercy, I'm a dead duck," Yuri said and sat on the verge next to the darkness gravestone.  

            The usual susurrus of ghosts and dead souls seemed to fade as Yuri stayed on the verge, refusing to enter the Mausoleum.  He kicked at the ground with his boots and scuffed at the crumbling stonework that made up the verge.  When he next looked up he saw that the fence line of the Graveyard was fading into the approaching foggy night.  The air, usually close and cloying, was growing chill and the flickering lights over the Gate had dimmed and gone out.  The darkness of nightfall had dimmed the frozen sunset beyond the Gate of Self which now faded into the murky mist.  Yuri scowled, wondering what was happening to the Graveyard.  

            He rose to his feet and approached the Mausoleum, the only place still sharp in his eyes.  The open doors beckoned him and the floating masks remained silent in death's vigil.  He paused at the bottom step and looked up at the root infested roof.  He shook his head.

            "No.  I don't want to go in there," he stated again.  "I may be dead right now, but that doesn't mean it's permanent.  They can help me; Margarete or Alice.  They wouldn't let me die and not help ... would they?"  He felt a sudden frisson at the realization that neither lady might be able to help him.  He grasped at the last straw of hope and turned to run back to the Gate, slamming into its ethereal iron and calling out.

            "Maggie!  Alice!  Come on girls!  Get me th' hell out of here!"

            Alice had fallen to her knees on the hard cold ground outside the warehouse.  She had watched the inferno that had once been the warehouse and knew that Margarete had to be dead.  Furthermore, she felt nothing for Yuri.  Her sixth sense was numb; she felt nothing at all.  She had not felt this way when he had been swallowed body and soul by the Seraphic Radiance in Shanghai; she had not felt this way at all.  She had known instinctively that he yet lived; but not this time.  She bent over, her hands covering her face as wet tears flowed from her reluctant eyes and her head touched her knees as sobs wracked her slim body.  Her ears were deafened with the explosions and she did not hear the police lieutenant as he tried to get her attention; she did not notice the fire engines screaming to the Queenithe Docks to put out the fire.  She paid little heed as a strong hand lifted her up by the elbow and guided her to a car and set her in the backseat.  She let the tears flow and the sobs tear from her throat as grief threatened to overwhelm her.  What would she do without Yuri?

            A little while later the police lieutenant, Carter, offered her a cup of hot tea, and Alice roused from her grief to take the offered drink.  She stared at the dark liquid in the bent metal cup and wondered why the British always thought tea was the ultimate answer to everything.  She took a tentative sip of the strong brew and then set it down on the floorboard.  Looking up she watched as fire fighters swarmed over the warehouses sending arcs of water over those buildings not yet engaged in flame to protect them and their contents.  If Margarete had known that the buildings held munitions ... but it was pointless to speculate now; Margarete was dead.  Yuri was dead.  Alice's heart lurched in her chest and she felt the constrictions of further tears threatening to well up in already blood-shot eyes.

            'I never even got to say goodbye,' she thought.  She reached into her pocket, pulling out her book; she had returned it without thinking and now needed to open its pristine pages once again; not to heal, but to pray.  Pray for Margarete, and pray for Yuri.  Yuri would need the prayers to help him get across, she knew that.  He was probably standing at death's door cursing and screaming that he wasn't supposed to go.  The image brought a smile to her lips if not her eyes and she closed those same eyes to begin her prayers.

            Yuri's fists went through the iron when he tried hitting the gate again, but he himself could not pass.  He looked askance at the gate as it slowly faded to grey then white and then nothing as the surrounding air seemed to turn chill and then fade to emptiness.  He backed away, nearly falling down the steps to the pathway.  He looked around the Graveyard and noticed the fencing was all fading away; the Gate to his memories too had become translucent and faded away to nothing as he watched.  With a gulp he wondered what was happening now and then sprinted for the stairs to the Mausoleum; these were solid enough with the grass still grey-green and the stone stairs still solid.  The doors were open, beckoning still but Yuri refused to enter, putting his back to the door and leaning against its solidity as the Graveyard slowly vanished.  A frisson threatened to send his teeth chattering but he gritted his jaw and refused to give in to his fear, instead resting his head against the door, eyes closed.  He breathed in slowly, trying to calm the rampant pounding in his chest and mentally laughed at himself when he thought of a ghost with a heartbeat.  He turned amber eyes to the dark doorway and thought about Alice, a nervous prayer passing his quivering lips as he waited for Death's arrival.

            "I don't wanna die," he said softly.  "I can't die, not now; not when things were finally going good."  He looked out once more at the fading Graveyard.  "Are you going away 'cause I'm dead, I wonder?" he spoke aloud.  Licking his lips he watched as the grey crept up the lower steps toward the floating masks.  "Am I afraid to go on?  Me, afraid of death?  I'm a Harmonixer for god's sake," he chided himself.  "Death is my companion, my lover.  It feeds my fusions and taints my soul; how can I be afraid?"

            He looked again into the seductive darkness of the Mausoleum and sighed.  'All the things I didn't get done; that's what keeps me here I think,' he thought.  'I wish I had made love to Alice – just once.  I wish I could tell her how much she means to me; how grateful I am that she saved me in Bistritz.  She was so warm and caring when no one else gave a damn about me.  I feel like I failed her; not finishing what I started.  Will she forgive me I wonder?'  With a sigh he stood and watched the Graveyard slowly fade, the foggy greyness touching the Grail Mask as it floated to his left.

            "Well, at least I won't have to deal with you bastards again," he said, his voice nearly a whisper, and then he turned and crossed the threshold to the Mausoleum.

            Margarete pushed and pulled and shoved until she finally was free of Yuri's pinning body.  She barely had room to move in the small space between collapsed girders and once free of Yuri's confining presence she searched her pockets, pulling out packets and small envelopes, searching for anything to help her; she wished she had a torch for light since each package was marked, but without light she would have to rely on smell and her tongue to tell her which medication she had found.  The first packets were Thera and Mana and these she set aside, knowing he'd need them if she could bring him around.  Time was not on her side right now, and finding the resuscitation medications was primary in her mind.  She knew she had told her contact to pack some but had he done so?  She pulled out another packet and ripped open the seal; the tantalizing aromas of frankincense and cinnamon and cloves filled her nose and she sneezed.  With two grimy fingers she pulled out the paper pack that held the knotted herbs that made up the Talisman of Mercy.  With the medicine in one hand, she reached over to Yuri's mouth and stuffed it in, pushing it past his tongue and as far down his throat as she could.  She then prayed it was not too late.

            Yuri stepped into the enclosing darkness that was the Mausoleum and heard the doors creak shut.  

            "Well, this is it then," he muttered.  He stepped up to the platform where he and Alice had battled Atman and waited.  The walls, lost in darkness, slowly began to glow an eerie blue; Yuri rubbed the back of his neck, feeling the hairs prickle beneath his fingers.  "Well, now what?" he wondered aloud.

            The blue light flickered like fire up the walls and Yuri watched in fascination, the light filling his eyes.  He didn't notice when the doors completely closed behind him and he didn't notice when a figure stepped out of the darkness and stood next to him.  The light dancing on the walls was almost hypnotic.

            "Pretty, huh?" the other said and Yuri jumped away, hands suddenly coming up in a defensive position.  

            "Who the hell?" he shouted, and then looked again and realized that he was looking at himself.  He stood straight, putting his hands down at his side and frowned.  "Fox Face," he growled.

            The other Yuri wore a quirky smile.  "Not really."  He gestured at Yuri and then the interior of the Mausoleum.  "Nice place you have here.  The inside of your mind is such a delight to behold."

            "Shut up!" Yuri shouted.

            The other shrugged and walked around the eerily glowing room, pausing to turn back to Yuri when he was finished with his circuit.

            "Your choices have been interesting; self-centered, egotistical.  Do you ever do anything without being goaded?" he asked.

            "What th' fuck do you know of it?  We settled this already, Fox Face.  Why the hell are you here now?"

            "_We_ settled?  As I recall, you beat sense into yourself; a temporary respite.  You were just having regrets weren't you?  Regretting all the wonderfully selfish things you didn't do; again, I ask do you ever do anything without being goaded?  Are you so selfish?"

            Yuri frowned.  "You're not Fox Face, are you?"

            "I told you that.  You're seeing me the way you expect to see me."

            Yuri's frown deepened.  He blinked several times and then shrugged inelegantly.  "Whatever.  What do you want?"

            The other Yuri mirrored the shrug and gestured at the harmonixer.  "I already have it; I have you.  You need merely to realize it.  Recognize your situation and then ..." he shrugged again.  "Deal with it."

            Yuri stood silent, contemplating his twin; from the scruffy hair to the marred boots, he was identical.  It had to be Fox Face, yet it wasn't.  This one did not wear the mask.  But that didn't mean it wasn't wearing one.  Yuri felt his lips pull back in a smirk.

            'Fox Face was my God of Death; he wore my father's face until I was swallowed by Seraphic.  Then he wore _my_ face.  But he was still Death to me, until I realized what he truly was: my other half, that part of my soul that was fused with the demons.  But this ... _this_ is not my soul.  This is something else.'

            "Who are you?" he asked.

            The other Yuri laughed.  "You're beginning to realize.  You are seeing me the way you expected to see me.  This is not my face."

            "Okay," Yuri said, his frown growing to encompass his entire face.  "So who are you really?  And don' waste my time with riddles.  Can't stand 'em!"

            "You never did have patience," the other Yuri stated flatly.   "And until you embrace what is happening to you, you will not understand.  You will not move on."

            Yuri kicked at the ground, frustration beginning to climb up from his toes.  'If he doesn't start giving me answers...'  "What is that supposed to mean!" he shouted.

            The other Yuri sighed, and with a gesture, changed shape.  Now he stood as a woman, light brown hair piled up in a bun on top of her head, her light brown eyes shining, and her face of delicate features wearing an amused expression.

            "Is this better perhaps?" she asked, her voice accented.

            Yuri ground his teeth.  "NO!  You may look like my mother, but you are NOT her!"

            The Anne Hyuga look alike laughed softly.  "And why not?  Is she not dead?"

            Yuri felt the hurt inside him well up to grip his heart; she _was_ dead after all.  Nothing he was able to do would ever change that.  His beloved mother dwelt with the worms, her lovely body defiled and destroyed by the monsters sent to kill them.  Yuri's head slowly dropped, bleak despair filling his amber eyes.

            "So what, this is my judgement?  Is that it?  All my failures comin' to put me in my place?" he asked softly, the previous anger draining from him, leaving him feeling empty.

            "If that is how you chose to interpret this," the Anne look alike answered.  "But it needn't be that way," she said softly.

            Yuri sighed, his shoulders slumping.  "Then how is it s'pposed to be?  I don't understand."

            "Of course," Anne said.

            Yuri shook his head.  "I'm not good with riddles; I never get 'em.  Ask Alice, she knows!  Maggie too.  They both laugh at me."

            "This riddle is easy; you are simply trying too hard.  Relax with it, Yuri," Anne said and approached the puzzled harmonixer.

            "Look, I know I died.  That's why I'm here, 'cause I died.  But did I at least save Margarete?" he looked up at Anne and his gaze was captured by her eyes.  

            "She is alive," Anne answered.

            "So, then what?  Am I supposed to do something else?  I'm dead for chrisakes!"

            Anne laughed, a soft sound that made Yuri smile as well. 

            "Well, that was stupid," Yuri said with a chuckle.  

            "Your wisdom is deeper than you know," Anne said and stepped up to Yuri, opening her arms to offer an embrace.  Without thinking Yuri stepped into the embrace, taking Anne into his own arms and hugging her, breathing the scent of her hair, kissing the top of her head.

            "I miss you," he said softly, his voice barely a breath.

            "All your dreams, all your heart-felt emotions, are as nothing Yuri," Anne said softly.  "Do you begin to understand?"

            Yuri stiffened, holding his mother in his arms, protecting her, cherishing her; it was what he had wanted more than anything else.  And it was a lie; an illusion.  He pulled back and stared at the woman before him.

            "You are not my mother.  Why are you doing this to me?" he asked.

            Anne Hyuga smiled ever so slightly before turning her back to him.  "I am not doing anything, Yuri.  This is you.  This is what you have made of yourself; illusions and lies and dreams."

            Yuri shook his head.  "No, that's not so.  Sure, I wish I had my mum; but I know she's dead.  An' I know dad is dead too, so don't try an' trick me."

            Anne Hyuga laughed, turning once more to face her son.  "Tricks?  Is that what you think this is, Yuri?  Some kind of trick?  You are dead; that is no trick.  You need to face that fact, face the reality that is you," she gestured at the Mausoleum interior.  "The bleak nothingness that is you," she said and the dim light that had played up and down the Mausoleum's walls slowly faded to black, leaving Yuri standing in utter darkness.          

            "You need to decide, Harmonixer; heaven or hell.  You decide, like you always have," the voice of Fox Face came from the darkness.  "But only the right answer will get you anywhere."

            Yuri kicked out at the darkness.  "What the hell is that supposed to mean! Godamnit!  Will you stop fuckin' with me?"  There was no answer in the darkness, only a trickle of laughter that faded away to silence.  "Damn fucking trickster!" Yuri cursed and looked around the dark Mausoleum.  

            'Heaven or Hell; right, like I believe in that shit!' he thought.  But one hand came up and rubbed the back of his neck, the hairs bristling at his nape.  'I'm scared,' he thought.  'I been scared since I got here.'  He walked toward the doors, closed and sealed against him, and leaned against their melanous surface. 'So I am afraid to die?' he asked himself.  'I left a lot undone, yeah, but so?  It happens when ya die,' he thought and then laughed, a hollow sound in the Mausoleum.  'So maybe it's not death I'm afraid of then – Alice…  Alice will go to heaven; yeah she's good, an' righteous, an' a bastard like me ... well, hell would be too good.'

            Depression warred with him, and he wished it was all over.  Just let the darkness swallow him up.

            "I'm already dead; why can't you just let me go..."

            A breath of air moved around the Mausoleum, touching his face and fluttering his hair.  And out of that inky air, Yuri began to hear voices, his voice and Alice's and Fox Face.  He was hearing once again the scene in the Graveyard when Alice sacrificed her soul for him.

            Alice's voice was soft, coaxing as she spoke to Yuri.  He was on the ground, dirt in his face and mouth, blood trickling down his chin.  Fox Face had just punched him down a second time and the pain was real.  He heard her voice speaking, one hand's fingers gently touching his arm.

_            "Yuri, don't give up.  Don't grieve.   Because ... you're still alive!"_

            '-The hell?' he wondered and stood up straight, listening to the words.  

_            "Don't you die on me you son of a bitch ... explain to __Alice__ ... Yuri..."_

            "That's Maggie," he said and looked around the Mausoleum, but the dark remained.  

_            "I never got to say goodbye ... Blessed angels guide my beloved to your light ..."_

            '-What?  Alice? An' she's prayin' for me?'

_            "Come on kid, breathe; breathe... heart beat, come on... live damn you...!"_

            "Margarete again?  What's going on?"

_            "Recognize your situation... deal with it... heaven or hell..."_

            "Fox Face you tricky bastard!"  Yuri was clenching his fists and turning to the doors, began pounding on them.  "Open up ya sonofabitch!  I ain't dead yet!"

            Margarete had rolled Yuri onto his back as best she could in the limited space and was pounding one fist on his bare chest.

            "Breathe damn it!  Breathe!  Get that heart pumping, kiddo!  I know you can do it!"  Tears ran clean streaks down her face and she kept up a litany of encouragement until she was too tired and laid her head on his chest, collapsing into tearful sobs.

            "...ger off..." a faint voice said above her and Margarete reached up to Yuri's bloody face and felt the breath coming from his parted lips; his chest rose slowly as he began to breathe and her hands trembled when she reached down for the packets of Thera seeds and offered a pinch to the awakening harmonixer.

            "Yuri... don't ever do that again or I'll – I swear I'll kill you," she said, her quavering voice a mixture of tears and relieved laughter.  Yuri was too busy chewing Thera seeds to answer but he managed a weak nod and Margarete sighed.  "Thank goodness."

            Half an hour later, Yuri was sitting up and hunched over in the small cavern of debris that remained of the warehouse.  He had pushed a bit of the detritus back from the floor and scrambled around looking for an exit, but there was none.  They were stuck.  Margarete had kept up a mindless banter until she realized Yuri was not paying attention, and then sat in a sulk; it never occurred to her he couldn't see her pout.  Finally he sighed and pulled himself over to sit next to the spy.

            "Yer awfully quiet, Maggie," he said with a grin.

            "You're ignoring me, why should I talk to you?" she said with a pout.

            "Ah, but I'm payin' attention now; an' you look cute with your lips all pouty like that."

            Margarete looked up and surveyed the darkness.  "It's dark Yuri.  I can't see you; you can't see me.  How the hell are we going to get out of here anyway?"

            Yuri sighed and rotated his head on his shoulders, cracking the stiff joints.  "I'm thinkin' about that," he responded.

            Margarete sighed.  "You had me worried for a while there, Yuri," she said.

            "I know."

            "I thought you were gone for good."

            "Well you know me, I'm hard to kill," he said with a chuckle.

            Margarete thought for a moment, and then laughed softly.  "Que ne me tue pas me fait plus fort."

            "What?"

            "What doesn't kill me ... but what now?"

            Yuri shrugged.  "- sup keta?" he offered.

            Margarete huffed, and then laughed.  "Cat soup?  You sick bastard!"

            Yuri laughed too and then sighed.  "Ya know, if feels good ta laugh, even if it is at stupid shit."  Yuri was silent a moment, then added, "I like your laugh."

            "Well, I'm glad you like _something_ about me, kiddo," Margarete answered.

            "I like a lot of things 'bout you, Margarete.  I jus' don't always say so."

            Margarete sat quietly, wondering what was going through his mind.  If it was true that death and near death experiences could bring about personal revelations, then what had Yuri realized? 

            Yuri tilted his head, watching Margarete in the dark.  "You got quiet.  Did I say somethin' wrong?"

            "No – oh no," Margarete shook her head, her ponytail falling down and sending reddish tendrils around her face.  "I was just thinking.  I do that once in a while."

            Yuri chuckled.  "I'm glad; you can do it for me then."

            "I always do," Margarete said with a chuckle.  "Let's get outta here, huh sonny boy?"

            Yuri nodded, smiling to himself.   He climbed to his knees, and directed Margarete to get behind him, squeezing her body between his back and the rubble.

            "I'm gonna fuse and it's gonna get tight in here," he informed her, and then drew on the fury residing in his soul.  

            'Tight doesn't describe it,' Margarete thought with a grunt as Inferno suddenly took up ninety percent of the space with his massive body.  "What are you going to do?  Burn our way out?"

            Yuri's growled response was followed up by a ball of fire directed just past their feet, and Margarete's unremitting scream of terror.  She grabbed his heavily muscled leg and held on as the fire burned through the floor and the fusion jumped down into the darkness.  When Yuri released the fusion he was grinning like a fool and had to shake Margarete loose. 

            "That was fun," he said and Margarete promptly punched him, the flickering of the remaining fires showing not only how irked she was but a great deal of her cleavage.  "Getting all tingly, Maggie?" he asked and chuckled deeply.

            "I still owe you a death contract, sonny boy.  Don't push your luck," but Margarete was trying to swallow her grin when she realized she had behaved more like a frightened female than a world class spy.  Margarete pulled the remains of Yuri's trench coat closer and cinched the belt another notch before asking, "Where to now?"

            "Back down th' sewer; I'll take you to the entrance by the river, but I gotta go on an' find the queen."

            "Queen?  You mean there will be more of these bastards?"

            Yuri huffed as he took the spy's hand and guided her back down the old sewer to the fork leading outside.  

            "Not if I do my job.  I got a lot of 'em, but not the egg layer.  Gotta get her too," he said.

            Yuri led them through the dark recesses of the sewer back to the sluice, holding Margarete's hand and wishing it was more than that.  He shook his head, trying to erase the thought; his wiseass comment about being tingly, meant as a joke, was truer than he wanted to admit.  The excitement of the last few hours, the danger, and the death, had his body responding in ways that would be embarrassing if he were standing in the daylight.  And Margarete's presence, an already enticing piece of womanhood, wasn't helping matters.  

            They reached the entrance to the sluice in a few minutes and Margarete let go of Yuri's guiding hand.  "I know the way from here, Yuri," she said and then pulled out the remaining medicine packets.  "Here, take these and –" she put the packets into his hands then reached up and gave the fusionist a hug.  Yuri pocketed the medicines then bent down to kiss her briefly but lingered as their lips locked and her hug became a tight embrace.  When he pulled away Margarete laughed softly.

            "Yeah, tingly," she said.

            Yuri wore an expression of surprise and confusion that even the darkness could not hide; he didn't think, he didn't reason.  He just reacted.  The next heartbeat found them both in a tight embrace, mouths scouring face and neck as they met in the heat of passion.  Margarete didn't think about what she was doing, she went with the fire that had been ignited by the excitement, fear, and Yuri's brief kiss.  For his part, Yuri was burning. 

            The next few minutes were a blur as Yuri painted Margarete's face with kisses before stopping at her lips, her mouth open and receptive to his tongue's questing thrusts.  His hands, ever fast in combat, were no less swift in removing the tattered trench coat and cinch belt while Margarete's deft fingers undid the buttons of Yuri's leather trousers.  The darkness of the sewer and the cold ground were no deterrent as they came together, their bodies melding in a passion neither would have expected.  Margarete invited Yuri's exploration and entry and Yuri obliged with a driving desire that left them both panting in the cool air of the sewer. 

            Margarete lay with a smile on her lips, her eyes unfocused.  "Too bad it's dark," she said huskily.

            Yuri chuckled.  "I can see in th' dark just fine," he said and kissed one exposed and ample breast before rolling off of her and pulling up his trousers.  

            Margarete chuckled and then rose, pulling Yuri's trench coat around her.  "Yuri …"

            "Maggie," Yuri interrupted her, taking her into his arms and holding her firmly, her face resting against his bare chest.  "This never happened, yes?" he said softly.

            Margarete felt the warmth of his chest against her cheek and the steady rise and fall of his breathing was like a bellows against her ear.  She had wanted this to happen; had wanted it since Fengtian, how could he ask her to deny it now?  Oh, of course: for _her_.  For Alice he would deny himself anything and everything; even the satisfaction of human touch.  Margarete thought that he didn't deserve an ice maiden like Alice.  Then she bit her tongue.

            'How can I think that?  I know how much they love each other; I've always known it.  I'm – I'm jealous!'  "All right, Yuri," she said.

            Yuri sighed and bent down to plant a brotherly kiss on her forehead. "Thank you for that; and for the other.  I gotta go.  Tell Alice I'm all right, yes?"

            Margarete nodded even as she pulled back from his embrace.  "All right," and listened as the young harmonixer turned away and went back up the sewer passage.  "Be careful Yuri," she called.  "Please."


	11. The Queen and the Harmonixer

Chapter 11:  The Queen and the Harmonixer

Disclaimer:  I don't own Shadow Hearts.  Man!  That sucks!

No, I'm not going to WARN you this time.  I figure you've got it by now; but there _WILL_ be violence and other assorted mayhem. Enjoy!

            Yuri waited at the junction of the sewer passages, watching Margarete until she finally turned to leave.  He wondered what had come over him for a brief moment before shrugging it off.  Margarete was a beautiful woman; she liked him.  She had admitted that in Rouen, and sent his head spinning for her efforts.  Why shouldn't he make love to her; it was only sex after all.  Didn't he deserve it?  Hadn't he saved the whole damn world and gotten what; a fiancé that might marry him when this is all done?  

            Yuri shook his head and turned up the passage, running swiftly to cover the twice traversed distance.  He didn't want to think about Margarete or Alice right now.  He needed to think about the queen and her defenders; for she would have guards to defend her and Yuri would have to take them out first if he wanted any hope of getting to her.  And they would be much more difficult than the ones he had faced so far; they would be older, bigger, stronger; and very much determined to protect their queen and possible mate.  

            Yuri was wishing he hadn't lost his shirt and chain mail vest in the explosions; his armor had held him in good stead these last months, even going so far as to block some of the attacks from the creatures of Neameeto, the Float.  But now it had to be in shreds, the links broken and unfixable … and his shirt – well, Margarete still owed him a replacement so now he had none left. 

            'What a thought,' he mentally laughed at himself, 'worrying about a damned shirt!'  

            His quick moving feet soon brought him to the caved in passage and he paused only long enough to decide how to handle it.  With a smirk and a laugh at his own inner sense of humor, he summoned the fusion.  His body elongated, becoming thinner and with a thick coat of bristly hair and a tail.  His face stretched out as well, becoming wolf-like and Yuri now stood as his toughest Earth fusion, Lobo.  If Yuri could grin as Lobo, he would have, for the fusion's specialty was gathering and throwing huge meteorite sized boulders.  Magical energies filled him as he called on the powers of Lobo and sent a gigantic boulder crashing down the passage to strike the blocking rubble.  There was a deafening roar as the blockage exploded and when the dust settled, the passage was clear.  Yuri released his fusion and ran on.

            He made quick progress through the remaining passages, coming at last to the burnt out and scorched loading dock above the abortive railway.  He looked up at the opening and saw peeking through the clouds of sooty smoke a few errant stars coursing their way through the heavens as if none of this had happened.  Yuri took a breath of the air but coughed when he got a lung full of smoke instead.  With an inelegant shrug he continued down the passage leading, he hoped, to the Queen's new lair.

            Margarete stretched, pulling tight muscles and then readjusted the torn and tattered trench coat.  Looking down at her soiled and begrimed self, she sighed.  She knew she must look a sight and that Yuri, who now owned only the pants and boots he wore, would need a new wardrobe; assuming he lived to get one.  That thought quickly buried itself in her mind along with the one that wore the satisfied smirk.  It wouldn't do for Alice to know of their heated love-making even if Margarete did want to shout it to the city.  She straightened her shoulders and climbed up the embankment and headed for the mass of vehicles outside the destroyed warehouses.  _That_ would take some explaining.  

            "I wonder if that bulldog Captain is around here.  Or that handsome lieutenant?" she wondered aloud and then ran across the docks.

            Half way there she spotted Alice, sitting in a police car.  Her head was down and she looked like she was sleeping until Margarete got close enough to realize her lips were moving.

            'Praying; for the kid, no doubt,' she thought and went to the car.  Tapping on the car window she waggled her fingers once Alice looked up.   Alice promptly screamed.

            Yuri had continued his swift traverse of the underground passages.  He passed several smaller cut-a-ways, making note of the scattered debris and egg sacks; he'd have to return to destroy those as well, but right now his concentration was on the queen; the creature that had come all the way across southern England from Wales to lay her brood of killers.  He was determined to stop her here.  The sewer passage ran a straight line after the initial opening at the cargo elevator and Yuri sprinted the half mile until he came to another split and a pair of guards. He engaged them without a thought, striking the first with his Nightbird Claws, puncturing and then ripping as he gouged a hole the size of his head in the creature's thorax before slamming his boot into its head.  Ichor splattered over him and ran down onto the passage as the guard screeched and moved back.  The second guard had jumped around behind Yuri while he was engaged with the first guard, but Yuri spotted him coming and even as his boot was smashing into the first creature's head, he flipped the Nightbird Claw on his left hand, and using it like a bill-hook, snagged the front leg and used the momentum to jump up onto the creature's back.  With a heavy downward thrust, he punctured the creature's head and sent brains and ichor splattering along the passage as the spider died beneath him.

            "Yeah, that's how you die, you sonofabitch!" he growled and then ran to the first spider.  It was hunkered down, dying as its lifeblood oozed onto the ground, but Yuri gave it a coup de grace, sending one Nightbird Claw into its head, twisting and pulling it back.  A death spasm shook the spider and its legs curled up beneath it.  Yuri passed the now dead spider to the split in the passage.  "Left or right; which way would I go if I was getting away?  River?   No, okay, right," he said and then turned right down the passage.  A few hundred yards in he found his mistake when the passage came to an abrupt end.  Cursing he retraced his steps at a full run heading for the left hand passage and the exit to the Thames. 

            Another hundred yards after the split, he came across a second pair of guards, scuttling quickly toward the exit.  These two jumped at him before he had the chance to put up his hands and Yuri quickly found himself pinned to the passage wall as gigantic legs pummeled and pounded him and one pedipalp tasted his face.  He struggled fitfully, trying to escape the oncoming fangs and managed to wiggle just loose enough to kick out at the spider's jaw as it came down onto him.  Poison dripped and spattered, catching him on his exposed chest and the skin burned and peeled where the poison made contact. 

            Screaming, he reached for a fusion, drawing on Inferno once again and as he merged his soul with that of the fire demon, he grabbed one spider's leg with a pair of hands and pulled, yanking the spider down and then pushing it away long enough to let him fall free to the ground.  Then he turned and offered a four-armed pummel to the second spider, pushing and punching his way free of their confining presence.  Then he drew on the power of the fusion soul, bathing the two erstwhile guards in searing flames.  Their dying keens followed him as Yuri released the fusion and ran for the end of the passage, one hand reaching into his pants pocket for a pinch of Mana seeds.  

            The end of the passage came out just past Blackfriars Bridge and Yuri silently cursed, knowing now how close the creatures had been that night that Lars had been killed.  The drain cover, now a mangled piece of steel, lay on the ground and Yuri stood next to it, scanning the semi-darkness of pre-dawn and the gray shadows along the underside of the bridge.  There was no sign of his prey so he climbed the embankment and spotted them a little east of the bridge, heading back towards Queenithe Docks.  The queen, a huge arachnid whose body would dwarf an automobile, was climbing the nearest building, making her way to the rooftops; one guard was before her, while the remaining guard took up a position behind her.  When it spotted Yuri in pursuit, it jumped out onto the street to stop him.

            Yuri met the guard half way, sliding under the spider and using his Nightbird Claw to slice open the creature's belly; entrails spilled out and bathed the ground and Yuri sliced one leg at the joint.  Off balance and mortally wounded, the spider guard fell to the ground, a high keen marking its passing. Yuri, panting with exertion, turned to follow the queen and her remaining guard.  They had fled up the side of a warehouse and so he drew on another fusion, using Icarus' wings to fly up to the rooftop.  There he ran into the last guard as it protected the queen; she was marching as swiftly as her egg-bloated body could move across the warehouse roof, jumping for the next building.  Yuri screeched a challenge to the guard and descended at full wing.

            Yuri drew on the full power of his air class fusion, letting the winged soul gather his magicks and summon a Gale to increase his own agility and speed, the magical wind fluttering under his feathered wings and making his heart race.  Then he flew at the spider guard, scratching it with his clawed feet.  The spider moved back quickly, rearing back, trying to ward off the flying fusion.  Yuri flew past the large spider again, flicking feathers in its face and running a claw down its back, however the guard spider's protective exoskeleton kept it from the fusion's over-head attack and it spun to shoot a web at the passing bird.  Yuri had hesitated in his fly-by, drawing on the fusions magicks this time and summoning lightening to strike the spider, but the creature was fast and jumped out of the way.  Frustrated, Yuri flew back over the spider as if to attack but released the fusion, dropping down onto the creature's back.  He grabbed a handful of the spiky hair on the creature's head, trying to hold on as the spider spun and jumped, trying to dislodge the harmonixer. 

            Yuri flipped one of his claws and stabbed it down, piercing the thick plating on the creature's back, but at the same time, the spider ran to the edge of the building and flipped over, using its web to stay on the building wall but dislodging the fusionist.  He slid down the spider's body, managing to grab a rear leg before plummeting to his death, but it put him in danger from the spider.  In another moment, the creature had climbed back onto the roof and pinned him, sticking him with webbing to the bare roof.  Yuri struggled, kicking and twisting to get free, the whole while the spider was striking him with a pair of legs and aiming its poisonous fangs at him.   The spider's head came down and the tip of his fangs touched the webbing surrounding Yuri's side, seeping through the webbing and burning him; Yuri screamed and fought harder against the restraining webbing, finally getting a claw up to sever the closer webs.  He jumped to his feet and punched the spider in the face, ichor exploding out onto him as he rolled away. 

            Panting, he wiped the poison from his side and gritted his teeth, the combination of poison, webbing and combat slicing through his leathers and losing him his last supply of recovery medicines.  He would be on his own now, his own strength beginning to wane.  

            "Shit, it's never easy," he looked up at the spider.  "Come on ya bastard.  I got yer number," he growled and then fused to Inferno once more, drawing on the fiery soul to send a ball of flame at his foe, searing and charring it in one blow.  Yuri released the fusion and leaned on his knees, his breath coming in ragged pants. 

            "Now, for the queen," he said and looked up to find the giant arachnid scuttling quickly across the rooftops several warehouses away; it had nearly reached the Queenithe Docks.

            "Damn!" Yuri cursed and ran for the edge of the building, leaping across the distance to land on the opposite rooftop in a roll, coming to his feet at a run and continuing to the building edge. 

            Alice climbed from the police car and grabbed Margarete by her shoulders, tears of relief flowing freely from her blue eyes.

            "Oh thank God you're safe!  What happened?  How did you get away?" she asked the spy and Margarete laughed diffidently.

            "Oh, you know me; I planned it," she said and when Alice stared at her, she laughed.  "No, really, Yuri saved me.  He's fine by the way.  He's chasing after the queen."

            "The queen?" Alice asked, confused.

            Margarete sighed. "It's a long story; but Yuri says he's gotten most of the creatures - the giant spiders.  But the queen is still running loose and he's hunting her."

            "Oh my sweet God," Alice breathed.  "Where?" she asked, looking around.

            "Underground; he's still in the old sewer system.  The English did some renovations to start an underground railroad and the spiders have been using them as breeding dens.  Yuri said there were hundreds of eggs."

            "We'd better tell Captain Cashiel.  He's here somewhere with the Army."

            "Later.  Alice, do you still have my gun?"

            Alice nodded, taking the dangerous weapon from the car.  "I am glad to give it back to you," she said with a shudder.  "I think I prefer my book," and she patted her pocket.

            "Yes, well prayer and magic might work, but bullets are faster," Margarete said as she checked the magazine then looked around and spotted Lieutenant Carter.  "Come on; let's go talk to the police."

            Lieutenant Carter was approaching the car with a small paper bag in hand and he smiled when he spotted Alice. 

            "I thought you might need some food, but I see that you're not alone," he handed Alice the bag.  Alice could smell chicken soup from a small container inside and smiled.

            "Thank you lieutenant; I'll have it later, if you don't mind.  Margarete just got back; she says Yuri's alive, and chasing more of those creatures."

            The lieutenant frowned.  "More of them?  How many has he found?" 

            Carter sounded distressed and Margarete wondered just how much of a mess she and Yuri had left for them to clean up.  "Lots," she said.  "You might want to clear out some of these people, lieutenant, unless they've got _big_ guns."  She waived her Luger and smiled.  "I don't think even my gun will really do a lot of good if any more of those things get loose."

            The lieutenant frowned before he turned to locate his captain.  "I think you might want to talk to the Captain yourself, Miss Guilbert," he said.

            "Fine.  And it's Margarete, please."

            Captain Cashiel was standing by his car, arms folded over his chest, his face set in a scowl.  He had argued his point to Colonel Mainwaring until he was out of breath, but the Colonel had the right of it now that his munitions had been destroyed.  The danger was no longer just a police matter, it had become a matter of national security; Cashiel was out-ranked and it rankled.  His own man, the monster hunter Hyuga, was risking life and limb to sort out these murders; if in turn there was other trouble, it belonged in his bailiwick.  Cashiel was chewing the stub of his cigar and wondering where Hyuga was as Carter and the two women approached.  One look at Miss Guilbert told him more than he wanted to about what was happening.

            "Miss Guilbert, were you involved in all this?" he indicated the smoking remains of the warehouses.

            "Yes, Captain.  And so was Yuri; he saved my hide.  But he's still alive and down there, chasing the mother of all monsters.  We've got to clear the area; bring in any big guns if you've got them, but get everyone else out of here," Margarete said, all business.

            "You'll have to talk to Colonel Mainwaring about that; he's taken control since the fire," Cashiel growled.  

            "Mainwaring?  Where is he?  I'll speak to him," Margaret looked around for the Army colonel but didn't see him in the grey pre-dawn light.

            "I'll try to locate him, if you wish?  Captain?" Carter turned to his superior, but Cashiel merely nodded.  Once Carter had left the captain turned to Margarete, his brown eyes pinning her to the ground. 

            "You're not what you seem, Guilbert.  And I don't like it," he growled.

            Margarete gestured at the warehouses. "That's true, Captain.  But it's not your worry.  Yours is law and order, maintaining the peace.  Mine is the same as Alice's right now: Yuri's well-being.  He's down there somewhere, and I've got to tell you Captain, he's facing the devil alone."

            Alice drew her hands together, clasping them at her breast without thinking.  She looked at the smoldering ruins of the warehouses and thought of her fiancé, fighting somewhere below, in the dark, alone.

            'Please God, let him be all right,' she quietly prayed.

            But Yuri was not in the sewers.  He was high atop a nearby warehouse, sprinting across the roof toward the queen.  She had scuttled over two more warehouses before he finally caught up to her and she was ready for him.  Even as his feet met the rooftop, she had spun her webbing out to catch the young fusionist, sticky webbing catching his feet and sending him face first onto the roof.  With remarkable speed for such a large creature, she jumped and landed on top of Yuri, pinning him to the rooftop.  Cursing vociferously, he struggled, using his Nightbird Claws to rake and slice the webbing away from him, rolling out from under the creature and giving a good kick to the legs as he did so.  Rolling free of the webbing, he grabbed a fusion, Inferno, and melded his soul to it at the same time summoning a ball of fire to throw at the spider queen.  Flame flowed like water, roaring over the rooftop and flowing down the sides, bathing the warehouse roof in fire.  But the spider queen was fast, jumping out of the way and scurrying to the next roof.  Yuri growled and pursued, flinging his massive form across the space between the warehouses and landing with a bone-jarring thud on the next building.  The queen continued to scuttle away, trying to outrun or outmaneuver the fusionist, but Yuri continued his bone-jarring run, summoning flames even as he did to explode outward toward the spider.  When the flames had cleared Yuri stood, surveying the damage; but there was no spider.  With a growl, he released the fusion, his magical energies were depleted and he was no longer able to use them.  Now it was just him, his claws and the thrice-damned queen!

            Yuri took a running jump to clear the alleyway to reach the next warehouse, landing on the next roof in a roll.  He jumped to his feet quickly and scanned the area for the spider.  This roof had several projections and access stairways and the box-like openings could offer some shelter if the spider hunched down.  He checked the first and was heading for the second when the spider jumped out at him.  Large as she was, yet her speed was incredible and Yuri found himself fending off a frontal attack, her front legs slashing and pummeling him. He moved back until he was against one stairwell, the spider keeping him pinned.

            "Damn she's fast!" Yuri exclaimed and summoned a fusion monster from his soul.  Even without magicks he could still combat with his fusion soul and Forron was nothing if not a brawler.  The enormous fire class fusion fought back with four powerful arms, both defending and then advancing on the queen.  Step by step, Yuri pushed the spider back, his powerful fists either blocking the spider's attack or punching his way to her body.  He landed one good punch to her lower abdomen and his fist sunk deeply into the soft flesh.  Instantly the spider slammed a leg into the fusion and fled.  Releasing Forron, Yuri followed.

            At a full run, he caught up to her before she made it to the end of the warehouse.  With a running leap, he grabbed a handful of spiky hair on her back, trying to climb on top of her.  She jumped straight back, spun around and then suddenly rolled onto her back, crushing Yuri beneath her enormous weight and knocking the wind out of him.  Before he realized it, the spider had righted herself and spun webbing, tacking him to the rooftop like a prize.  He pulled on his pinned legs, cursing and growling at the same time, slashing at the webbing and fending off the front legs that bashed into him and the pedipalp that slapped his face.  Muscles bunched and tore before he managed to get one leg loose and sent his right leg kicking into her underside repeatedly.  Pain shot through him when one of her legs pinned him to the roof at his shoulder and her head came close, her fangs piercing him.  

            Yuri shrieked in pain, his struggles becoming more urgent as he felt the first trickle of poison entering his shoulder.  With one final thrust, he kicked upward, sending his booted foot deep into her belly and forcing her to respond by backing off a little.  He quickly slashed at the last of the restraining webbing and rolled back, turning to face the queen's next assault. 

            Below, on the roadway near Upper Thames Road, Margarete and Alice were waiting for the Army Colonel.  The smoking ruins of the warehouses were behind them and both were watching the pre-dawn darkness recede and hoping to catch sight of Yuri.  Lieutenant Carter joined them after a few minutes, Colonel Mainwaring following behind.  He was of the aristocracy and wore his uniform with impeccable correctness and Margarete instantly disliked the man.  

            "What is this all about, Captain Cashiel?" the officer asked, directing his question to the police captain and ignoring Margarete.

            "There's trouble, Colonel," Cashiel answered.  "Ask Miss Margarete."

            Margarete nodded at Cashiel, taking control of the meeting.  "Yuri's down below somewhere Colonel; he's fighting the creatures that have been killing in this area.  He's battling to save London and I need you to clear the area.  If you've got large caliber weapons, bring them up, otherwise pull back."

            The Colonel looked down at Margarete, her brown trench coat barely covering her feminine attributes and he scowled.  

            "And just who are you?" he asked pointedly and with distaste plain on his face.

            "I'm here to help," she answered and ground her teeth when the colonel's eyebrows lifted in further distaste.  "Colonel, you get in touch with High Command.  You tell Kitchener that Malkovich is here.  Do it!  And then get the hell out of my way!" Margarete was standing nose to nose with the colonel and her green contacted eyes were blazing.  The colonel hesitated, and then turned to hail a subordinate.

            Captain Cashiel, watching the two, turned to Alice.  "She's Malkovich?" he asked.  Alice nodded.  "No wonder she's in disguise," he said quietly. 

            Margarete was just turning to Alice when they heard a shriek above them.  Looking up, Margarete spotted movement on the nearby warehouse roof.

            "Shit!  It's Yuri!  Stay here Alice!"  Margarete yelled even as she ran across the street toward the warehouse.

            The queen seemed to be waiting while Yuri, hands to knees, sweated and panted in near exhaustion and pain.  Her poison coursed through him and he knew his time in this combat was limited but he also knew he wasn't going to fall apart quite yet.  She seemed to be sizing him up, waiting for her poison to bring him to his knees.  Fine, he thought, come and get me.  He slowly knelt, positioning his claws beyond his knees and bunching his muscles, preparing to strike the moment she got within range.  The spider hovered, quivering for a few more moments, and then hopped in, pulling webbing from her spinnerets and casting it at the nearly prone harmonixer.  But Yuri was faking his collapse and dove under the queen's belly, running one Nightbird Claw along her tender underside and scoring a deep wound. 

            The spider keened her injury and turned quickly to face Yuri but he had ducked again, grabbing one leg and taking the ride as the spider spun around, looking for her tormentor.  But underneath her, Yuri was free to use his claws to slice at her spinnerets, damaging her so she could not spin webs, then he jumped away, landing beyond her immediate reach as she jumped left, then right, trying to find him.

            Yuri chuckled wickedly, his lips pulled back in a feral grin.

            "You're mine now, bitch," he growled and leapt at her just as she turned to face him again.  He ran smack into a leg as she raised it to strike him and he went down, stunned.  The queen slammed one leg into his back, pushing him down onto the rooftop and then she turned quickly and scuttled over the ledge and down the side of the warehouse.  

            Below, Margarete had run at full speed, her Luger pulled and ready.  She had a fresh clip in the magazine and she had hastily grabbed medicines in one torn pocket.  If Yuri was fighting above, and she had every reason to believe he was, and he was screaming in pain, then the battle was not going as well as it should.  Margarete pulled up short at the warehouse entrance, scanning up the walls and squinting at the windows.  The sun was peeping up over the horizon and the early morning light was hitting the glass at just the right angle to produce glare.  Margarete looked at her watch; it was 6:30 and Yuri had been fighting since midnight.  

            She moved back to search the top of the building when she spotted a huge shape suddenly spill over the edge and climb quickly down the wall on the shaded side of the warehouse.  With a shout Margarete took aim, pressing firmly on the trigger of her Luger 9mm, firing round after round at the huge shape.  The large creature scuttled quickly off the wall, jumping the last few yards and Margarete realized that the size of the thing made it bigger than the police car she had ridden in earlier; bigger than the colonel's staff car.  Her bullets would do little good against something that size, but she quickly slipped another clip into the gun and continued firing, even as the creature approached her at a quick run.

            Above, Yuri was pushing himself up off the roof, shaking his head and moaning.  Distant reports echoed in his fuzzy brain and he realized that, not only was the poison beginning to affect him, but that someone was shooting.  He shook his head again, trying to clear the buzz in his ears, and climbed slowly to his feet.  He leaned on the short retaining wall around the roof and looked down.  The sun's light was just reaching the lower streets and he could clearly make out the army vehicles speeding around the dock's perimeter.  Figures in military uniforms were running about and in the distance he could make out a police car and Alice's white-blonde hair shining in the morning light.  He smiled a lopsided grin of delight and relief that she was all right, and then turned to look down at the ground below.

            The queen had made it to the street and someone was in front of her, firing round after round at the gigantic creature.  Yuri shook his head, knowing full well that bullets alone would not deter the queen spider.  With a groan he pushed away from the wall and took a few steps back.

            "They always say I'm reckless. I guess today I prove them right," he said and broke into a run that carried him up and over the retaining wall and down toward the street below.  He plummeted headfirst over the side of the warehouse, turned a somersault in midair and landed feet first, cannoning onto the queen's back while his forward momentum carried him further and he fell across her enormous back.  One hand grabbed at a fistful of bristly hair holding on for dear life and the queen suddenly jumped, spinning around to find her attacker.  He cocked his right hand back, Nightbird Claw extended, and plunged it into the back of her head.  Again and again, he punched his claws into the creature's head, black ichor and brains spurting up and over him in a stinking bath.  The queen continued to struggled, trying to dislodge her attacker, but finally, with a great shudder, she collapsed to the ground, her legs curled up underneath her: dead.

            Yuri, his world suddenly no longer moving, leaned forward resting his head on his arm, his breath still coming in heaving gasps.  Thank god, it's over, he thought.

            "Hello! Get this thing off of me!" a muffled voice yelled from beneath him and Yuri cocked one ear up to listen.

            "Yuri!  Help me!  Get this damn thing off!"

            "Maggie?" he asked, his voice a slur and pulled himself forward to look beneath the giant carcass of the queen.  He could see something struggling beneath and he shook his head.  "Margarete what the hell you doin' there?" he asked.

            "Just get me out of here!"  

            Margarete had continued firing her gun even as she saw the fusionist make his dive off the warehouse roof; she saw him leap like an avenging angel, his headlong plummet turning into a graceful somersault and, even as the giant spider got within striking distance of her, she marveled at Yuri's strength and agility; and his recklessness. If he lived through this, she would give him a piece of her mind!  She continued firing until her gun ran out of ammunition just as Yuri plunged his claws in for the final stroke and the spider came down, pinning her beneath the giant's bulk.  

            "Just get me out of here sonny boy," she called.

            Yuri slid off the spider's back and squatted, ignoring the head spin his movements were causing, and pushed himself beneath the spider's thorax.  He pushed up with his legs and lifted the giant carcass enough for Margarete to crawl free then let it fall, his own legs suddenly weak and he collapsed beside the dead spider.

            "Yuri!" Margarete crawled over to the fallen fusionist, her hand reaching into the trench coat pocket for Thera.  "Here kiddo, Thera seeds," and she shoved them past his lips and he chewed automatically.  "You hurt or just tired?" she asked.

            "Poisoned ... left shoulder.  God-I-feel-sick," he mumbled and fell over, still feebly chewing the Thera seeds.

            "Hang on kiddo.  I'm not much with magic, but this I _can _do."  She knelt down by his side, pushing him up to expose the black and festering flesh.  "Nice job, Yuri," she muttered.  She placed her hands above the wound and closed her eyes.  It was true she was not accomplished with magic, in fact, she knew only one spell, but it was the right spell, a cure-all, and it would heal the harmonixer.  She concentrated on her own delicate magicks and called them forth from the wellspring of her soul; a water class magic that moved like a spring shower down her arms and through her hands to bathe Yuri in a blue healing light.  After a few moments, his eyes fluttered open and he watched as she continued the spell until the last of the blue magicks finished their gentle rain and she opened her green eyes.

            "I hate those lenses, Maggie.  I like your eyes blue," he muttered softly.

            "Ah-ahaha," Margarete laughed and patted his shoulder.  "I know the feeling.  Come on, sonny boy.  Let's get you on your feet.  Alice is waiting."

            Yuri nodded and sat up slowly, stretching sore muscles and testing the shoulder.  "Thanks, Boom-boom," he said with a crooked smile.

            "Boom-boom?" Margarete looked surprised and then laughed as they both stood up and walked around the dead queen, heading for the waiting police and Alice.

            Alice watched as Margarete emptied bullet after bullet into the enormous spider queen, her own hands folded together both in prayer and in preparation for a spell, but her heart suddenly stopped when she spotted Yuri on the rooftop.  In the next instant he had flung himself off the roof and Alice closed her eyes, unable to watch the man she loved fall to his death.  The shots continued to echo, and then went silent, and Alice breathed a prayer for Yuri and Margarete before opening her eyes.  Ice blue irises grew larger when she saw the dead queen, but no Margarete.  

            She took a few hesitant steps then began to run just as Margarete and Yuri came around from behind the dead monster.  Alice cried out in relief and sprinted toward Yuri, flinging herself into his arms.

            "Well, hey!" Yuri laughed and held her close, laughing as she kissed his cheek.  "Well I like that," he chuckled.  

            "I thought – you both – oh never mind, you're both safe, which is what is important, right?" Alice finally said, catching her breath and holding on to Yuri's neck even as he continued walking toward the police.

            "You know, I'd love to hold you all day Alice, but I'm a bit tired," he said softly and added, "Perky butt."  Alice blushed but let him set her down.

            "You are hurt!" she exclaimed, seeing the bruises and other injuries that had not healed.  

            "I'm all right now.  With you, I'm all right," he said and guided them toward Captain Cashiel.

            The captain was standing, his arms on his hips, his hat pushed back and a cigar trailing from his lips.  He thought he had seen everything as a police detective; today he'd seen a man dive off a roof and kill the mother of all monsters.  He was unsure if he should be impressed or offer the man a drink.

            "Captain, you have your killer," Yuri said, indicating the dead queen.  "We're quits now, yes?"

            Cashiel nodded.

            "If you go to the sewers; from beneath Blackfriars you will see the entrance.  There are chambers that have eggs.  And missing bodies; food for the babies."  Yuri rubbed the back of his neck.  "I would not wait too long, Captain."

            "You got them all?" Carter asked as he stepped around the end of the captain's car.  

            "Well, I think so.  If not," Yuri offered up a tired but idiotic grin, "you can always hire me, but –" and he looked down at Alice, "not right now. Now I am for food and rest.  And then, we marry."

            Cashiel and Carter both exchanged glances from Yuri to Alice and Carter grinned.  

            "Congratulations."

            "Thanks.  You come if you want; no one else is…" Yuri said, suppressing a yawn.

            "Hey!  What am I, chopped liver?" Margarete said with a grin.

            "No, you're the prostitute," and Yuri almost managed to sidestep Margarete's boot.

A/N: No, this is not "The End".  So stay tuned, you won't want to miss "You Are Cordially Invited..." which WILL have Adult warnings.  Guaranteed!


	12. You Are Cordially Invited

Chapter 12: You Are Cordially Invited...

Disclaimer: I don't own Shadow Hearts. I don't own the wedding dress which does exist; I just don't remember where I saw it. I don't own Yuri's outfit either, same-o same-o. 

WARNING – REALLY, REALLY BIG WARNING!!! ADULT SITUATIONS!! TURN BACK BEFORE YOU ARE CORRUPTED!! (There, I've done my legal duty!) Use back button if you're not into Alice and Yuri, weddings, HONEYMOONS or whatever. But if you do, you'll miss out! 

I want to thank Aegis for her invaluable suggestions, Bella for her encouragement, and I want to thank all the faithful readers who have been coming or will come to read this entire story. And also to offer a grateful bow to those who reviewed; my most heart-felt thanks. Domo arigato gozaimasu!

Morning light was cascading into Yuri's bedroom when he finally opened his eyes; he stretched tight, sore muscles and sighed. His mind was still a bit fuzzy but he remembered washing and lying down to sleep. Vague impressions of Alice touching him came back to his memory and he smiled, remembering her gentle touch and soft healing magic. He sat up, his stomach rumbling, and looked down at himself; the deep bruises were faded to mere whispers of discoloration and the cuts, wounds and the poison-blackened flesh were totally healed - that last must have been Alice. 

Yuri yawned and stretched again and rose to his feet, spotting the brown parcels lying on the chair across the room. He blinked, wondering when they had been put there, and then blinked again at the array of clothing hanging from the pole behind the chair.

"Oh, I wondered what that was for," he chuckled. He ripped open the brown parcel, shirts and underwear spilling out and onto the wooden floor. "Ah, Margarete paying me back?" He pulled one shirt from the pile and pulled it on: long sleeved, short collar, black. "I like this one," he said. Grabbing a pair of pants from a hanger, he pulled them on. However, looking for his boots, he did not find them in the room. "Oh well, barefoot I guess." 

He stepped out into the relative quiet of the upstairs hall; colored boxes were stacked in front of Alice's door, and voices filtered from below. He headed for the stairs, and as he descended, he was greeted by chaos. Voices called from the kitchen, more voices from the sitting room; Alice's high-pitched 'eep' was heard from the sitting room as well and he covered the few feet to the door only to come up against the lock.

"Alice? You okay?" he called, knocking on the door.

"Oh shit!" Margarete's distinctive voice said, and then there were rustling sounds and the lock being turned. But when Yuri tried to push open the door he was met with Margarete blocking the entrance, and her Luger pointed at his nose.

"What the fuck!" he shouted and pulled back. "What are you doing?" he asked. "Is Alice all right? Why can't I ~?"

"Oh-no, sonny boy, you don't see her now. Not until tomorrow. If you're hungry, you can eat in the kitchen.."

"What do you mean I can't see her? Get the hell out of my way!" he pushed at the door and the Luger was suddenly cocked, and Yuri pulled up at Margarete's steely blue gaze. 

"Not in the dress, kiddo," she growled.

"Got yer eyes back, I see. Okay. I got it. Dress..." he scratched the back of his head, thinking. "What dress?"

Margarete shook her head, eyes twinkling with laughter. "_The wedding dress, Yuri._ Now, go eat," she said and slammed the door shut, twisting the lock as she did so.

"We - wedding dress?" he said quietly, staring at the door. "Wedding dress." And as he turned toward the kitchen, his face took on an idiotically happy expression that only a prospective husband can wear.

Mrs. Elliot was supervising the kitchen, now filled with men and women in white shirts and aprons. Yuri stared as the taskmistress directed the food preparation and watched in awe as knives chopped, rollers flattened and shaped dough and one girl industriously stirred a pot on the stove. He stepped over to see the strange contraption that the girl was using; a pot within a pot was on the burner and inside was ... some strange white liquid bubbling and popping within. He stuck a tentative finger inside only to have his hand whacked by Mrs. Elliot.

"Get your filthy fingers out of the chocolate!" she whacked him again with her wooden spoon for good measure and Yuri, holding his hand and pouting, moved away.

"But I'm hungry," he moaned, putting on the appropriate 'I'm-starved-haven't-eaten-in-years' look he had perfected.

Mrs. Elliot swallowed her grin. "You are a rascal; but get out of my kitchen."

"But I _am_ hungry. Margarete said I could eat. I haven't eaten in days. Please?" he whined and added on his 'I'm-a-good-boy' look for good measure and Mrs. Elliot broke out in laughter. She swept up items left stacked on one kitchen chair and indicated he should sit.

"Eggs and bacon all right?" she asked quickly, going to the panty.

"Yes, please," Yuri said, eyes brightening and his stomach rumbling again.

Yuri continued watching as food came off the stove to be put on plates and set aside; then a man in a large oddly shaped hat came in and took command of the counter. Flour was quickly poured into bowls, butter whipped, and cream added and Yuri frowned wondering what kind of thing this man was making; whatever it was, he knew it would be good enough for the Ambassador's guests at the Russian Embassy. He had seen men in just those kinds of hats before in Vladivostok. With a sigh, he wondered what he had gotten himself into. But a few minutes later a young lady brought a plate brimming with eggs and bacon and another plate with toast to the table and Yuri, grinning in appreciation of not only the food but the pretty young lady, began to eat. A pot of tea miraculously appeared some time later and he poured himself a cup, savoring the aroma of Oolong tea; Mrs. Elliot sure knew the way to win him over.

In the sitting room, things were not going so smoothly. Alice stood on a chair, her wedding dress draped around her. It was actually her mother's dress, the gown fitting Alice now after a considerable amount of stitching. Mrs. Elliot had dropped down the back to reveal delicate shoulders and added white seed pearls to the lace bodice and lace hem. The overall effect with a delicate cascade of white lace to white satin and, with the veil, would prove lovely. Alice loved the dress, but Margarete thought it should be shortened in front too, bringing the hem up to at least her knees. 

"It's much more modern than the Victorian look of that dress," Margarete was saying, as Alice looked at herself in the full-length standing mirror. 

"I don't know, Maggie. I like this dress," Alice said softly.

"But Yuri would like it shorter," Margarete offered.

Alice giggled. "I'm sure he would. He would no doubt prefer me naked in any event. But I won't do that," and she had to cover her mouth to prevent further giggles from escaping. "I _have_ been around you way too long," she added.

Margarete eyed the gown and the lovely young bride wearing it and agreed. "Yes, I hate to admit, it is lovely. Maybe you can substitute something else to entice your young man, hum?"

"I don't think he needs enticing, Maggie. If anything, he needs a cold bath!"

Both women laughed. "Well, maybe a gift from me to you, girlfriend. Something I know he'd like. Would you go for that?"

Alice looked down at Margarete, her red hair beginning to fade to blond as the dye wore off and the offending green lenses gone to reveal her own lovely blue eyes. "We'll see," she said with a smile and suppressed the giggles once more.

"Okay then, show me the veil," Margarete said and Alice took the lightweight veil from Margarete's hands and put it on. 

"I still need some way of holding it on, but this is it. It's the only expensive piece I have really; it belonged to mother." She moved her hands under the veil and drew it over her face, letting the lace fall smoothly to half way down her dress.

"Wow, Brussels and Italian lace; pearls; your mother has good taste," Margarete whispered, fingering the delicate material.

"Yes, she does," Alice said looking through the nearly sheer material. "Mother and father married without her parents consent so she had to make do. Mother says she made her dress but that she and Morris, my father, bought the veil together. It means a lot to me to be able to use it."

"So you have your something old, the veil. How about something new?" 

Alice thought a moment. "Not really. I have borrowed though; if Yuri's cross counts," Alice said and lifted the small silver cross from around her neck.

Margarete looked at the ornate object a moment then remembered where she had seen it before. "His mother's, right? He lent that to you? He's a regular softy, isn't he?"

Alice laughed softly. "Yes he is, really. The cross has a special property; no doubt imbued from his mother. She had given it to Ben, Yuri's father. So it's special for both of us."

"Well then, that leaves blue. Where are your gloves?" Margarete crossed the sitting room to the desk and opened the small box with Alice's lace gloves. She pulled a small blue ribbon roll from her skirt pocket and began to thread the blue ribbon through the gloves. When she was done with both she tied each ribbon in a small bow and then showed them to Alice. "What do you think?"

Alice smiled her acceptance of the small token. "Blue ribbons - thank you Margarete."

"Now, let's get this dress packed up and put away before horny Yuri comes barging in and ruins everything."

"Margarete!" Alice said, suppressing the shocked laughter which threatened to bubble out. "Really, you are horrible."

Margarete helped Alice down from the chair and laughed. "I know, I know," she said. 

Yuri finished his meal and sat comfortably watching the organized chaos of the kitchen. He was sipping his cold tea when a wooden spoon tapped him on the shoulder. Looking up he saw Mrs. Elliot's grey-blue eyes staring down at him.

"If you are done here, then move!" she said, emphasizing her command with the spoon.

Yuri grinned and stood up. "Thank you for the food, Reverend Misses. But what should I do?" he asked, looking around.

"Leave. Go for a walk; go to work. Anything, just go." 

Puzzled but compliant, Yuri left the kitchen. Locked out of the sitting room and forbade the kitchen that only left upstairs or outside. He looked down at his bare feet and wiggled his toes. 

'I'm not walkin' around without shoes,' he thought and yelled back to Mrs. Elliot. "Where are my shoes, Reverend Misses?"

Pots clanged and there was a bang as something large was dropped onto the kitchen floor. Mrs. Elliot's voice rose above the clangor.

"Downstairs; cleaned," she called.

Yuri looked to the small side door leading down to the pantry and the small side passage leading out the back door. With a shrug, he went downstairs. He found his shoes sitting on the floor next to the crate of apples. Grinning, he pulled on the shoes, grabbed two apples and sprinted for the back door leading out to the garden. Yuri had watched as the gardeners pulled up weeds and trimmed trees over the weeks since they'd moved in and now the garden was looking neat the clean and almost oriental in it's trimmed and elegant design. He leaned against a maple tree resplendent in one corner of the garden and ate the first apple, tossing the core to the back bushes when he was finished.

"So what do I do with myself huh?" he asked himself, looking over at the house where Alice and her family were making such a fuss. Shrugging inelegantly, he walked from the garden and down the street, heading in the general direction of Regent's Park. He passed by the local newsstand and waived at the few neighbors he saw there but continued his jaunty walk to Prince Albert Road, crossing into the park and heading for the lake. Regent's Park Lake was a man made body of water, shaped roughly like a long cornered triangle, the nether portion curling around and protecting Regent's College. Boaters skimmed the water and children would sail homemade boats on weekends. Today there was the usual traffic of nannies with strollers, couples, the luncheon crowd; and the police. 

Yuri hesitated before approaching the lake, wondering what the police were doing there and if he should perhaps go another direction when he spotted Lieutenant Carter among the crowd around the lake. He stopped behind the gathered crowd; arms folded over his chest, he watched the constables pull a body from the lake. There was a flurry of speculation from the crowd but Yuri ignored it, instead concentrating on Carter as he directed the local constables and the coroner. 

As the body was brought out and covered, several constables entered the crowd, directing them to disburse. Yuri moved back but did not leave. He wanted to speak to Carter and waited until that man was finished with his work before approaching. Carter's face lit up when he saw the young monster hunter and waived him over to join him at the nearby police van.

"Glad to see you looking better, Hyuga. Something I can do for you?" he asked.

Yuri nodded. "In a way; I wanted to make sure someone had gone back in for those egg sacks," he said.

Carter nodded. "Army sent in a platoon with fire; messy business. You were right though – more bodies than we knew about. We pulled a few before burning. The ones we pulled were vagrants, homeless; nobody reported them missing." He shook his head, taking off his cap and running his hand through his hair. "I wouldn't be surprised if some of our missing people were among the dead. But we'll never know."

Yuri nodded. "Sorry. It happens though. The other thing I wanted to ask, that man Brittey mentioned other deaths; similar to Lars, out in the West Country."

"Yes, they occurred over the last year. Why?"

Yuri rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, while watching the coroner load the corpse onto his van. "The queen was eating the rich meat her guards were bringing her; kind of like flowers and candy, you know?" Yuri looked at Carter and waited as the realization sunk in. "Yup; there may be more eggs out there, hidden. And if any of them were a female... well they lay more eggs."

Carter blanched, running a finger around his collar. "I don't want to hear this," he said quietly.

"Well, you can hear it from me, or from somewhere else. I don't care. I'm just saying," Yuri said with a lopsided smile. "You can always hire me. I'm good. An' I don't generally blow things up; that was Maggie," he said with a laugh.

Carter looked at the fusionist and grinned. "Nice friends you've got there, Hyuga. Malkovich for God's sake!"

Yuri shrugged. "She chose me," he said with a chuckle. "Well, you tell the Captain. Or not."

Carter nodded. "I will. He won't like it either. But say, why are you wandering around?"

Yuri grinned. "Those women have made a mad house up there; people all running around; I'm under foot. So I left."

Carter laughed, offering Yuri his hand. "Well then, I'll see you at the church tomorrow. Captain's coming too; bringing his wife – Alice sent the invitations. I'll bring you a special gift from me to you."

"Oh yeah?" Yuri asked but when Carter shook his head and walked away Yuri merely laughed. 

Yuri walked off, heading around the western end of the lake and down along Baker Street heading aimless toward the docks. He had walked for nearly an hour when he stopped and looked at the bridge - Blackfriars. With a smile, he realized he had retraced the steps he took every morning to work. Shrugging, he crossed the bridge and turned down Bankside toward the pub. It was after noon and all the regulars had left, returning to work, so Yuri pulled up a stool to the bar. He didn't say anything, waiting for the pub owner to turn away from his newspaper.

"Hello, Edgar," Yuri said when the pub owner put down the paper. The older man looked startled, then grinned.

"Well now, look who's come back to haunt me," he exclaimed. "They let you out right proper did they?" the grey haired man said.

"Yup," Yuri said, not offering up anything.

"Well now, what'll be? Stout?" Edgar grinned, filling a half pint and setting it on the bar.

"Nope; no money. No job. Just walkin' around, thought I'd stop in," Yuri said and pointed at the paper. "War news?"

"Yup," Edgar said, taking back the half pint. "An' other stuff. Looky here," he pushed the paper across the bar and pointed at a picture on the first page. The headlines were dire, with the Belgians repulsed at Driegrachten and the Germans making headway in the west. The French had made a little progress in their battles at Verdun, but were repulsed at Argonne. Little good news was coming from the Western Front. There was another article reporting the American government had demanded reparations for the sinking of the W.P. Frye and just that week King George had forbad the use of alcoholic drinks in any of the royal households. Such incongruous news was followed by another headline and a grainy black and white photograph of Queenithe Dock, soldiers and police in the background and a lone man, accompanied by two women, heading for the police. The man was Yuri. 

Surprised, Yuri looked closer. "When did this happen?" he asked.

"Paper came out this mornin'. I was thinkin' that was you. No name; just description. Since when you a monster hunter, Russki?"

"Huh, long years now," Yuri answered. "What does it say – the article?"

"Says 'three days ago, a monster hunter, employed by the police, finds and destroys gigantic spiders in sewers of London'," Edgar read. "'Explosions of Army munitions caused damage, but police and army assure residents of London that all the monsters have been found and destroyed.' You a hero, Russki," Edgar said and offered up the paper. You keep that, I got another. I never knew any heroes a'fore," and the half pint of beer appeared again on the bar. "Here, drink up."

Yuri continued to stare at the picture, fascinated at the article and wondering what more trouble he was going to be in now, assuming Alice and the Reverend Misses knew about it. 

"You think anyone else has seen this?" he asked, taking a sip of the offered beer.

"What? You kiddin'? That paper goes all over London; even to the rest of England," Edgar said with a laugh.

"Oh," Yuri said quietly. He folded up the paper and stuffed it into his pocket, nodding to Edgar as he did so. "Thanks for the beer, but I think I should stay away from that strong stuff, eh? I'll see ya around, Edgar. I gotta find some work somewhere."

"Ya been back to the wharf? Plenty o' work over there."

"Yeah, but I got fired, 'member? Bart said..." he started.

"Ah! You never mind what that old troublemaker said. You hie yerself over t' the wharf. They need good strong backs; even if they are Russian," and Edgar laughed as he cleaned up the spotless bar.

Yuri smiled, waiving goodbye and headed at a fast trot down the street to the Barrels Wharf docks.

Alice, Margarete and Mrs. Elliot sat at the kitchen table now cleaned of wedding preparations and instead filled with plates and teacups. Supper had been a quiet affair with the three tired women eating without conversation until the tea was served. Mrs. Elliot looked askance at the empty plate in the corner and Alice frowned with worry.

"I wonder where he could be. Did he say anything, Mother?"

Mrs. Elliot shook her head, sipping her tea. "No. He asked about his shoes, that is all."

"Oh, I wouldn't worry about him Alice. Where can he go?" Margarete offered, taking a slice of cake and spooning fruit onto it. "It's not like he'll fuse into the Seraphic Radiance and fly away."

Alice looked at her friend and sighed. "But you know Yuri; he doesn't look for trouble, it just finds him. I'm worried he got into trouble with the police again."

Margarete finished her cake and tea before responding. 

"Look Alice, if he were in trouble with the authorities, they would have contacted you by now, wouldn't they?" And when Alice nodded, she continued. "My advice is to get a good night's sleep and if he's not back in the morning, _then_ we worry."

Alice turned to her mother. "But tomorrow -- what do you think, mother?"

The Reverend Mrs. Elliot smiled and said, "He'll return when he's ready, Alice. He might simply be having his last bachelor fling you know."

Alice looked at her mother aghast. "_Mother_!"

"You know, she's right. Horny Yuri is probably out sowing wild oats," Margarete said.

Alice stood up, looking from her mother to Margarete and back. "_Oh, you're no help_," she exclaimed and left the kitchen. 

The next sounds Margarete and Mrs. Elliot heard were Alice's feet banging on the stairs as she went to the second floor.

"You know, we _are_ mean," Margarete said with a grin.

"Yes, it's traditional," and Mrs. Elliot chuckling softly.

"You could have told her you saw him leave," Margarete said.

"Yes, but he probably is sowing oats and doesn't need our help." Mrs. Elliot rose to clear the table. "You don't suppose he really got into trouble, do you?"

Margarete helped with the clearing and offered to dry. "No; he probably just lost track of the time. He can't read a clock you know," she said.

Mrs. Elliot laughed softly as she ran the soap into the sink. "Yes, I noticed. We almost missed the train from Zurich; it is odd how used to his idiosyncrasies I had become before all this."

"Yeah," the beautiful spy said, "he's like a fungus; he grows on you."

Dawn was a couple of hours away when Alice awoke. She lay in her soft bed, listening to the quiet breathing of Margarete, and wondered if Yuri had returned. She moved from the bed, leaving Margarete to sleep and, donning her robe and slippers, exited her bedroom door. The upstairs hall was still dark and quiet, the bare slip of a moon that had lit her way to bed that night had long since set in the west; only stars could be seen twinkling their cold light from the small hallway window. Alice smiled, remembering the last time she had walked this hall late at night; Yuri had come home drunk and crashed through the window, earning himself a bash in the head from her mother; of course, he had been fused as Death Emperor at the time. 

Alice's smile faded and she walked slowly down the hall to Yuri's door. It was closed and she listened for sounds before quietly opening the door. The room was dark, the faded stars lending little in the way of light to the brown and white painted room. Alice peered carefully at the corner, seeing Yuri's piled bedding, but unsure if he had left it rumpled that morning. She was about to leave again when she heard a low snort and looked again. Yuri was wrapped up in his blanket, his back pressed to the wall and he had just moved, flinging up one arm over his face. Alice sighed.

'He made it home after all,' she thought and padded softly across the hardwood floor to his bed. She knelt down and gently tapped his arm.

"Yuri?" 

He did not respond, and when she tapped again, he only snorted. With a smile she pulled at his blanket and used the corner to tickle his nose. With another snort his eyes flew open. 

"What the-? Alice?" he looked up at her white face beaming down at him. "I'm in trouble again?" Alice shook her head. "I miss something?" Alice shook her head again. "What?"

Alice grinned. "I missed you," she said.

Yuri lay for a moment, contemplating the illogic of women, then laughed and, grabbing Alice's hand, pulled her down to lie next to him. 

"I always miss you," he said, stifling a yawn. He lifted the blanket and let her nestle close before tucking the loose corner underneath them.

"Whew, Yuri, you need a bath," Alice said softly.

"You always say that," he answered just as softly. "You don' like the way I smell? I smell like a man," he said with a grin.

"You smell like a dirty man. What did you do this time to get so smelly?"

Yuri yawned broadly and settled closer to Alice. "I went for a walk; then to the pub; then to the wharf, that's all."

"You went to the pub? Yuri," Alice exclaimed, poking him in the chest with one finger.

"Well, why not? I was just walkin' around anyway. The pub owner – oh! There was a picture in the paper; did you see it? It was us; me and you and Margarete the day we killed the spiders. It's up on the -- table?" Yuri craned his neck and looked at the small table beside the window. "When did that get here? I never had a table before," he asked.

Alice giggled. "Mother and I found it in the attic. The chest too; we put your clothes in the chest by the wall."

"Oh, that's good. Maybe I get a bed now?"

Alice giggled again, poking him with her finger. "Yes; tonight."

"Oh, that's good. I don' mind the floor, but it gets old," he said, sounding sleepier. 

"So what did you do at the pub? Did you drink?" Alice pursued.

"No; well, yes, a few sips. He offered it for free," Yuri exclaimed quietly. "On account of he never knew any heroes before. Hell, if I'da known I could get free drinks, I'da tol' then all about Albert and the god thingy."

Alice was hard pressed to swallow her laughter. 

"I actually went to the park first; saw Lieutenant Carter? He was handling a murder there. He said him and the Captain will come to the wedding; says you sent invitations."

"Yes I did; to the lieutenant, Captain Cashiel, and to everyone else. I don't know if they would have received them by now, especially Keith and Zhuzhen and Halley. But I sent them a few days ago. In either event, I doubt anyone would be able to get here except Keith."

Yuri nuzzled the top of Alice head, kissing her. "You sent an invitation to that old drunk? Sheesh! He's bad enough any other time; you bring him to a wedding? Man, he's a pain," Yuri said softly.

"Yuri, he's a good friend, and you know it." 

"Yeah, well; he knew my dad, so I can't hate him too much. But … wait a minute. You said Keith could get here? How's that?" he asked and one hand absently brushed aside long strands of her silver-white hair that had fallen into her face.

"He's a vampire. He can turn into a bat," Alice answered.

Yuri thought about that for a long minute, picturing the quiet and elegant nobleman transforming into a golden bat and flitting across Europe while enemy guns shot at him, taking him for a Sopwith Camel. He grinned, chuckling.

"What's so funny?" Alice asked, turning so she could make out his face in the slowly growing dawn.

"Oh, just thinkin' about Keith flyin' here's all," he answered and swallowed another yawn. "I gotta nap some more, you wanna stay?"

"Of course I'll stay. You sleep and I'll be sure to wake you in time," Alice said and kissed his chin. She waited until his breathing had settled into a slow steady rhythm, telling her that he slept before she reached beneath the blanket and took one of his hands in hers and closed her eyes in prayer. 

The Church was beautiful that Sunday morning; nature, deciding that rain was not going to be the backdrop of the day, had sent pristine sunlight filtering in through stained glass windows and decorating the interior with rainbow prisms. Up at the altar there stood a wreath of white roses and someone had decorated the end of each pew with a white ribbon bow. 

Alice and Mrs. Elliot surveyed the small church with mixed emotions; Alice was both nervous and excited, while her mother was torn between happiness for her daughter and trepidation that she was losing her to a harmonixer. Mrs. Elliot shook her head slightly, refusing to fall back into those thoughts; Yuri had proven himself without her asking, settling matters with the police, and saving London. She refused to allow herself to dislike him again. Instead, she concentrated on Alice, focusing her attention on the assorted details required in even a small wedding. 

"The reception will be at our home, so all we need is to get you dressed and ready, Alice," Mrs. Elliot said, adjusting the weight of the wedding dress on her arm. 

Alice, her hands full of veil and other items, nodded her agreement and gestured to the side hall. "Through there I think," she said. As they passed into the side hall and into the bride's room Alice sighed. "I think I am nervous Mother. Were you nervous on your wedding day?"

Mrs. Elliot chuckled softly. "You could say that. Let me see, it was 1888 and we were eloping. My parents had frowned on the marriage, both because Morris was a priest of the church and because they had other plans for me. Social climbers I guess you could say," Mrs. Elliot said as she hung up the wedding dress and helped Alice to undress.

"You never told me that," Alice remarked. "Why didn't you ever tell me this? I always thought you had married in a church."

"Oh, we did," Mrs. Elliot said with a smile blossoming on her face. "We were married in a small chapel in France; Morris was enroute to his position in Germany actually when we got married. Then he received a letter from the Vatican and he left me in Marseille while he traveled on to see the Pope." Mrs. Elliot exhaled with a sense of finality and regret. "I miss him," she said. She hung up Alice's dress and coat and Alice took up the hem of the white satin and lace dress, pulling it on slowly, letting it fall around her head and shoulders.

"He was summoned about those books, wasn't he Mother?" Alice asked.

"Yes," her mother said and helped fasten the small pearl buttons on the dress. "He would travel around Europe for the next few years until you were born; then he would travel only occasionally. That was when he separated from Bishop O'Flaherty. I never knew what happened to that man; I cannot say I particularly liked him. He had a way about him; a secret he was harboring that I felt was driving him."

"Halley's mom, Koudelka met him. He died shortly thereafter, in 1898. He helped save a troubled soul," Alice informed her. 

"Well that's too bad. I'll say a prayer for him. But I can't say I'm surprised he's dead. Those books were nothing but trouble. I am so glad you were able to find them and return them to the Vatican."

"Yes, so am I," Alice responded and sat down in front of a mirror. "Will you help with my hair?"

"What do you mean I have to wear a suit?" Yuri asked, his scowl so deep his brows threatened to meet his nose. "Why can't I wear my regular clothes now that I have some?"

"Because men wear suits when they get married," Margarete answered and pulled open the special clothing bag she had hung up on his clothing rack. The label on the bag was to an exclusive men's shop in London and Margarete hoped she could get the stubborn fusionist to put on the suit.

"I don't need a fancy suit to marry Alice," Yuri said and folded his arms across his chest, full stubborn mode engaged.

Margarete sighed. 'It's going to be that kind of a morning,' she thought. 'Hmph!' "Fine, here," she offered the black slacks, white shirt, black waistcoat and black long-tailed jacket to the young groom-to-be. "Wear it."

Yuri shook his head. "I don't want to," he answered.

Margarete's eyes reduced to slits and she turned to the coat she had hung up on Yuri's bedroom door handle. She reached in and pulled out her Luger. She loaded a fresh cartridge in the magazine and cocked it. With a smile venomous enough to poison an angel, she took the three steps to bring her face to face with Yuri and put the gun to his face.

"Put-them-on," she said slowly, enunciating each word.

"Nope. You won't shoot me," Yuri answered.

A small vein began to throb in Margarete's forehead, matching the beat of her heart and the tempo of her tapping foot. With one hand, she reached out and grabbed Yuri's trousers and pulled, tearing down the front and effectively stripping him to his...

"You don't wear underwear," Margarete suddenly realized.

"Nope."

Stepping back she looked him over, head to toe, then lowered the gun, changing its aim.

"Put on the suit, Yuri, or loose 'em," she said and Yuri suddenly blanched, realizing where the gun was aimed.

"You wouldn't!" 

"Try me!"

"But-"

"Put-on-the-goddamned-suit!"

Trousers, shirt, socks, shoes; Margarete even got him to put on boxers. Grumbling the whole time, Yuri donned his formal suit. Each piece took long minutes while Yuri looked it over, trying to decide if it was worth arguing about. And each time Margarete's Luger aimed at Yuri's future generations and he would quickly don the next article of clothing and move on. 

"You're not being fair, Maggy," he grumbled, as he pulled up the black trousers, cinching them with a thin belt and shaking his legs to settle them around his feet. 'They don't look that bad,' he thought, 'but I hate fancy clothes.' He pulled on the white silk shirt and fumbled with the collar, getting it turned partly in and partly out before Margarete set the gun down and helped him straighten it.

"You don't look half bad now, ruffian," she said. She took up the black cravat but Yuri stopped her. 

"I refuse to be lynched," he growled. 

Considering the amount he had to put up with this morning, Margarete thought of conceded the point, but decided he deserved to be lynched. "I'll tie it loose, but you're wearing it. And you'll have to wear the cuffs. _And_ the jacket. _And_ the hat," she pointed at the black hat sitting in its box on the table.

"Fu..."

"Don't say it. Wear it."

"I am not Albert Simon an' I won't wear it," he growled.

"Yes you will; it's not a top hat anyway. It's more of a short top hat," Maggy said and giggled at Yuri's puzzled expression.

"You are enjoying this way too much, Margarete," Yuri said, staring down at the spy.

"Not half as much as you will once you get dressed," she replied cryptically.

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It means you can get married."

"Like I need a damn suit to get married?"

"In this country you do," Margarete responded and had the joy of watching Yuri's expressions run the gamut of doubt, consideration, puzzlement and then confusion.

He blinked several times before turning to pull on the jacket. 

"How do I look?"

"Good enough to eat," Margarete said softly and took the hat from the box. "Let's go, handsome," and she left the room before she could say anything else.

'Handsome?'

Yuri could remember being nervous when Alice awoke in Dalian; all his hard fought battles in that haunted little town had been worth it when her clear blue eyes opened and she smiled at him. His belly had been jumping around threatening to run away by the time she awoke from the horrible curse. His next case of nerves had been at the proposal on the boat from Southampton. And again, when he first met Alice's mother. But compared to today, those nerves had been mere flutters. Yuri stepped to the front of the church and looked back at the pews; the church was not large but the pews were filled with churchgoers. He didn't know any of them. Well, except for the Captain and Lieutenant Carter and, oh! there was the neighbor down the street; and of course, Mrs. Elliot, sitting on the left hand side behind him. And Margarete was missing.

'What the hell do I do now?' he wondered just as the organ began to play and the crowd stood up, all eyes turning to the back of the church. Yuri craned his neck to see and his heart suddenly jumped into his throat, threatening to choke him.

An angel had descended from heaven and stood in the church doorway, a vision of loveliness in white satin, with small pearls in the lace over her shoulders, glittered in the sunlight and a cascade of delicate nearly transparent lace fell from her head, a circlet holding on the lacy veil, and a glitter of diamonds caught his eyes.

"My god, she's beautiful," he breathed.

The strains of music were lost to him as he watched Alice come down the isle, all eyes captivated by her loveliness. His heart was pounding so hard in his chest he thought the world could see and he stood, mouth open like an idiot. A soft voice said behind him, "Close your mouth, stupid," and he blinked, seeing Margarete come up to stand next to him. She had changed clothes and now wore a floor-length skirt in indigo blue with a white blouse and dark blue jacket and a white rose pinned to her lapel like a boutonniere.

"Maggy, what are you-?"

"I'm acting best woman here, kiddo. I've got your ring. I'll help you if you need it. Now shut your mouth and pay attention."

Yuri did as directed, turning his attention to Alice who now approached the altar. He could make out her slightly down-turned face and her hands clasped beneath a small bouquet of button roses and he marveled at her beauty. How had he ever thought that anyone else in the world was as lovely as she? 

Alice took the final steps to the altar and knelt for a brief moment before rising to stand next to Yuri. The minister stood at the head of the altar, a bible in his hands, and he smiled at the two young people standing before him. Yuri gave a brief nod, before turning his attention to what the man was saying.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God, and in the face of this company, to join together this Man and this Woman in holy Matrimony," the minister began and Yuri looked quickly at Alice to see if she was smiling; he knew he wore a smile on his lips. 

"Into this holy estate these two persons present come now to be joined," the minister continued his voice resonant and carrying to the back of the church. "If any man can show just cause, why they may not be lawfully be joined together," the minister continued and Yuri growled, "They better not." The minister paused, glancing down at Yuri before continuing: "let him now speak, or else hereafter forever hold his peace."

Again, the minister paused, letting the words sink in before he looked down at Yuri and continued speaking. To Yuri the voice droned on for long minutes, the lips moving but him not hearing. He heard instead the whispered prayers that Alice had said each night of their journey across China and again through Europe. He heard the small assurances she offered him when he messed up and felt that he had failed her somehow. He heard the tinkling giggles she tried to suppress whenever he did something totally inept and stupid. 

Margarete dug a finger into his back and whispered, "Pay attention boy, he's talking to you!"

"Huh?" Yuri looked up at the minister and smiled sheepishly. "I didn' hear you," he said softly.

The minister smiled, realizing the young man was nervous and repeated, "Yuri Hyuga, wilt thou have this Woman to thy wedded wife, to live together after God's ordinance in the holy estate of Matrimony? Wilt thou love her, comfort her, honour and keep her in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep thee only unto her, so long as ye both shall live?"

Yuri blinked up at the minister, thinking that worthy had lost his mind. "What are ya nuts? Of course I will," he answered. There was a susurrus of amusement behind him and he turned to see the churchgoers smiling.

The minister swallowed and then turned to Alice, his own eyes sparkling at the beauty standing before him.

"Alice Elliot, wilt thou have this Man to thy wedded husband, to live together after God's ordinance in the holy estate of Matrimony? Wilt thou obey him, and serve him, love, honour, and keep him in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep thee only unto him, so long as ye both shall live?"

Alice glanced quickly at Yuri before looking up at the minister. "I will," she said softly, and the flutter in her voice betrayed her nervousness.

The minister then took Alice's and Yuri's right hands in his and joined their hands and said: "Please say after me, I Yuri, take thee Alice to be my wedded wife..."

Yuri, grinning, repeated, "I Yuri take you Alice, to be my wife! To have and hold forever, for better, for worse, for rich ... for poor, although probably poor, healthy or not; to love and to cherish, until we're dead..." he paused and looked up at the minister. "Oh, what a load of shit!" He then looked at Alice, his amber eyes glowing with his barely held emotions. "Alice I love you. You are the breath that I breathe; the light to my dark. You are my savior as much as I am yours. I will always love and protect you. I promise."

A chorus of giggles erupted from the parishioners but quickly died down when the minister gestured. He then asked Alice to repeat after him.

"I Alice, take thee Yuri, to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love, cherish, and obey, till death us do part, for I love you to," she said.

With a sigh the minister continued, instructing them to take up the rings, Yuri taking the simple band that Margarete handed him and placing it on Alice's finger.

"With this Ring," he said, following the minister, "I... thee... ah hell, I marry you, Alice and give you all I got. Hope you like claws," he finished with a grin.

The minister continued with further prayers but neither Yuri nor Alice heard, each looking at the other with mesmerized eyes. To Yuri, his hands held an angel. To Alice, seeing Yuri in his finery, she saw the gentleman; the knight in shining armor she had always wanted, only this one usually wore leather. She smiled up at him through her delicate veil and they both missed the minister's words.

"Those whom God hath joined together let no man put asunder. I pronounce that they are Man and Wife, In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. You may kiss the bride, Mr. Hyuga," the minister said and this time Yuri did hear him. He stepped closer to Alice, releasing her hand from his and lifted the delicate lace that shielded her from his gaze. He hesitated, glamoured a moment by her brilliant blue eyes looking up at him before he finally bent down and kissed her.

The minister then indicated they should face the assemblage and he said, "To all assembled, I present, Mr. and Mrs. Yuri Hyuga." Applause from the parishioners greeted them and one lone wolf whistle from Margarete, who laughed when everyone looked her way. 

"Down the isle, kiddo. Time to party," Margarete said and gave each a gentle push down the isle to a fluttering of flower petals. Just as they made the church doorway they spotted Keith Valentine standing in the background, a grin splitting his face and he applauded them as they ran outside. 

A rented car awaited their arrival as a small crowd tossed flower petals and rice and Yuri grinned like an idiot as he assisted Alice into the back seat. The car took them up to Alliston Road and the reception at the house, and with a sigh, Yuri resigned himself to socializing before they could retire upstairs. 

"At least let me take off this stupid suit," he grumbled, but Alice looked at him, pinning him with her blue gaze.

"You may remove your jacket, but you're staying here, Yuri. If I have to stay in the dress, you have to stay in the suit," she said.

Yuri removed the jacket and hung it on the peg in the vestibule, muttering the whole time. 

"Yeah but you look good in that dress; I don' see why we have ta stay dressed isn't this our wedding day don't we get to finally..."

"Yuri Hyuga!" Alice called putting a stop to his muttering.

Yuri joined Alice in the sitting room, which had been decorated with ribbons and bunches of early roses. A table set along one wall was covered in a white cloth and held a large punch bowl and a beautiful multi-tiered cake. Yuri made instantly for the cake but Alice cut him off just as the other guests began to arrive. Soon the room was filled to capacity and many more spilled out into the hall and the kitchen. Yuri wondered where they all came from.

"The church mostly, and some neighbors. Believe it or not, you are known by our neighbors," Alice supplied when Yuri commented.

"Is that good?" he responded with a lopsided smile. 

Yuri and Alice were given chairs to officiate near the fireplace and plates were brought out and a standing supper was served; roasted chicken with basil pesto, and an herb crusted port loin with vegetables and fruits and glasses of sparkling wine. Yuri offered his glass to Alice, who sipped delicately then giggled with the bubbles floated up her nose. Yuri laughed before downing the rest in one gulp.

"Wow, that's different," he told her quietly. Together they shared another glass, while first Margarete then Keith offered toasts to the happy couple. Finally Mrs. Elliot pointed out the cake and Yuri and Alice did the honors, cutting the first slice, then taking their slices to their seats once more, Yuri offered a bite of his to Alice.

"I have never seen cake like this, Alice. You let me know if is good, yes?" he said and gave Alice a small bite from his fork. Alice's blue eyes grew wide with the taste, and she licked icing from her lips.

"Try it Yuri."

Eyebrows raised in question, Yuri took a taste, running his tongue all through the icing in his mouth before finally swallowing. "Mmm, is good," he said. "What is't?"

"It's chocolate, Yuri; white chocolate," Alice said, licking her lips from another bite.

'Mmmmm," Yuri mumbled as he stuffed in another piece. 

"Hey kiddo, you'll choke," Margarete laughed as she joined them. 

Yuri nodded but continued to put cake into his mouth, getting white icing on his chin, and then dropping it onto his shirt.

Margarete shook her head. "What a pig," she said pointedly.

"Hey," Yuri managed to get out before popping in another piece of cake.

"We must forgive him Margarete," Keith said as he joined them.

"Why?"

"He has not had the advantages of society as we have," Keith said diplomatically.

"In other words, he's an ignorant savage," Margarete supplied.

Keith shook his head, trying to assuage Margarete from further slander, but Margarete laughed and put her arm though his and pulled him away.

"Come on, _Lord_ Keith. The festivities are dying out; why don't _you_ show me the town?" Margarete guided him through the hall and into the vestibule, her jovial laughter carrying back and with a jaunty "Ta-ta kids," they were gone.

"Isn't that just like Maggie, running off like that?" Yuri said as he finished off his cake.

Alice took a napkin and wiped his mouth before taking their plates and setting them aside. "Dance with me, Yuri?"

Yuri sat in shock. "What? Dance? Me?" 

Alice looked down at a befuddled Yuri. 

"I – I never – I don't …"

"Oh, never mind, just stand up and hold me close for a minute, will you?"

"Oh, okay. But when do we…?"

"In a few minutes."

Yuri gamefully stood and took Alice into his arms, she guiding his hands where they belonged and not where he wanted them. 

"Just move your feet from side to side, no one will notice you're not dancing," Alice said into his shirt, her face lying against him, his radiant warmth a balm to the long day behind them. 

Yuri did as Alice instructed, stepping left, then right then left again, careful to not catch her dress and reveling in the closeness. He kissed the top of her head, letting his chin rest there a moment, unaware of the pleased and silly smile that wormed it way onto his face; unaware of the few remaining guests watching with approval as the young groom danced with his wife. 

Finally, Yuri nudged Alice's elbow, asking quietly, "Can we go now?"

Alice took a quick look around and noticed that most of the guests had indeed departed. 

"All right, but let's thank Mother for her efforts first, though," Alice suggested but Yuri would have none of it. He pulled her close, swept her up into his arms and carried her out of the sitting room to rapidly ascend the stairs to the second floor. The bedroom door was pushed open by his foot and then slammed shut the same way as he took his new wife into her, now their, bedroom. Then setting her on her feet he kissed her, his mouth pressing against her lips until she opened them, slowly inviting him in to taste the warmth of her mouth, still redolent with chocolate. His tongue made one more quick exploration before he pulled back, letting her go.

Alice sighed, shaking her head. "You just couldn't wait another minute?" she asked, more to give herself time.

Yuri rubbed the back of his neck, looking down at his shoes. "Well, I've given you almost two years; at least since I fell in lov—" he stopped suddenly and then laughed. "You teasin' me?"

Alice removed her shoes before looking up at her new husband. "Maybe a little; I'm nervous too, you know," she said and her breath caught in her chest, making her blush.

"Oh, well, it's jus' me. I don't bite... much," Yuri offered with a grin. "Here, let me help with that," he said and turned Alice's shoulders to reach the small buttons of her gown. After fumbling with the first half dozen, he frowned. "How the hell did you get into this thing?" 

Alice giggled. "Mother helped. Would you like me to call her for help?"

Yuri's eyebrows shot up into his bangs and he laughed. "Like I need help undressing my woman!" he laughed again and then slipped his fingers inside the dress and with a quick pull, popped the buttons off. "There, all done," he said.

"Yuri Hyuga!" Alice yelled and turned to slap at his hands. "That's not how you do it," Alice, her face pinking, turned her back to him and swept over to the bed. "This is my wedding gown for heaven's sake!"

Yuri, puzzled but uncaring, grinned. "Yeah, so?"

"Ohh," Alice growled. "I wanted to keep this for my daughter," she said after a minute, touching the delicate lace at the shoulders.

Yuri came up behind her, pulling her into his arms. "It's only the buttons. The dress is fine. 'sides, it's only a dress," he said and kissed the top of her head. "It is the person wearing th' dress who is important," he said softly and nuzzled her left ear.

Alice leaned back into his embrace, knowing full well he was trying to manipulate her, and deciding that it didn't matter. He was right; it was only a dress, and the buttons could be sewn on again. This was their night together, their first night. She didn't want silly material things to get in the way of their happiness. She reached up and took his hands in hers, leaning closer, feeling the warmth that radiated from him, feeling the firm muscles bunch as he tightened his hold.

"I love you Yuri," she said.

Yuri nibbled on her neck, kissing down the curve until he reached the lace at her shoulder. With a sigh he pulled lose and turned her around to face him. 

"Are you afraid?" he asked softly.

Alice, not answering, reached up to undo the buttons of his shirt, pulling free the cravat and letting it slide to the floor. She took her time, concentrating on each button as she pushed it through the small buttonhole, slowly revealing the muscular chest beneath. Reaching up, she slid her hands inside the shirt and pushed it down from his shoulders, sliding it down each arm until it too fell to the floor. 

"Will you get the door? And the light?" she asked.

Yuri stood for a moment, a stunned and stupid grin playing across his face before he shook himself and, kicking the offending shirt out of his way, crossed the room to push home the lock on the door and flip the light switch. When he turned, it was to see Alice lying on the bed, the covers turned back and a small light illuminating her; she had completely disrobed save for her stockings, which were still on her pulled up legs. Yuri leaned back against the door and stared. He looked in wonder at Alice's breasts; not covered by satin nor sheltered by lace, they were beautiful. Round, full, beautiful. He was glad she had not shown him these wonders before, instead leaving him to wait for this night; the anticipation had been worth the glory. He felt himself getting hard; harder than he had ever been before. He knew it was because of her. Because of Alice. He finally could make love to his angel.

Kicking off his shoes and unbuttoning his trousers, he crossed the room in a half dozen steps to stop at the edge of the bed, looking down at his beautiful wife. She had pulled her legs up tightly now and wrapped her arms around her breasts, a sudden return to modesty warring with her desire to have Yuri see and hold her. Yuri reached down and caressed the nearest stockinged leg, running his fingers down the patterned silk. He bent down and kissed the knee then spotted something on her thigh. 

"Oh, oh-oh," he chuckled and pushed down the one leg revealing a little bundle of lace caressing her thigh; black ruffled lace with a white ribbon weaving through it and Yuri licked his lips as he bent down closer to nip the thigh below the garter. The ribbon was secured by a small pink rose and Yuri's teeth pinched the rose, pulling the garter down, down, down the white silk stocking while his hand deftly pulled the stocking itself down over her knee, then down her leg. When he looked up Alice gasped slightly, seeing his dark eyes shift to pale amber, flecks of red beginning to show around the edge.

Deftly he pulled the second stocking down to join the first then pulled them both off her feet, kissing each toe that became exposed to his view. Alice giggled, her face blushing at Yuri's playfulness then blossoming scarlet when his kissing took him up her legs. He paused, threatening, before continuing up to her navel, thrusting his tongue into the little buttonhole, and then laving it with his tongue before moving upward. His next move was to kiss the cleavage, snuggling the warmth there and pressing each breast with his hands, caressing them and rubbing his thumb over the little pink nipples. 

Alice felt her stomach fluttering, her legs trembling, but she tried to catch her breath and reached out to run her fingers through Yuri's hair, tugging gently before stroking down to his neck, then dancing nervously over his shoulders. He quickly snatched one hand, pressing his lips to her fingers and putting each long nailed finger into his mouth, one at a time, gently nipping the soft web of skin between each one. His eyes were turning feral as he looked up to her heart-shaped face and Alice trembled at the hunger she saw there. 

Yuri was beginning to burn inside, his trousers tight and uncomfortable. With a growl, he released Alice just long enough to snatch the waistband of his pants with his thumbs and push them down, climbing onto the soft bed and pinning her to the clean white linen. He could smell the delicate flower perfume she always wore and the food she had eaten and something else. He nuzzled her breasts, breathing in and smelling her; the scent of her was intoxicating and he kissed her breasts, sucking on each rosy nipple. One hand caressed her breasts, and then slowly roamed down her side, squeezing gently the flesh in his fingers, passing further down to visit warm places he had yet to explore. 

He pushed one knee between her legs, pinning her beneath him and giving his roaming hand free access, his fingers exploring the delicate flesh she kept hidden beneath her flouncing skirts. He felt her warmth and it excited him further, sending his lips scouring up past her breasts to kiss her chin, then her lips, drawing them in slightly and nipping the lower lip. His tongue flicked out, broaching her parted lips and wrestled with her own pink tongue, conquering her mouth as his hand was conquering her below. 

Her breathing was rapid now, soft moans coming from lips left ravaged by Yuri's kisses and Yuri was quickly losing control of himself, his own breathing coming like a bellows, a low growl coming from deep in his chest. He pressed his advantage, pushing her other leg out of his way, freeing her for his exploration and entry. The next few minutes were lost for both of them; Yuri feeling the driving need build in him that pressed him deeper and deeper into Alice's warm embrace, while Alice passed beyond the initial pain of his entry and rose higher and higher until they both crashed down on one wave of pleasure, only to climb back up for another crescendo.

The clock in the hall chimed midnight and Yuri stirred, his head resting on Alice's breasts; Alice's fingers were entwined in his hair, gently twisting the long strands around her fingertips. He opened one eye to take in the luscious mound he was facing then offered the breast a kiss before pushing himself to his elbows. Alice smiled down at him, her intense blue eyes softened by their lovemaking.

"You all right?" he asked an almost boyish expression on his face.

Alice smiled. "Yes, I am fine, Yuri," she answered with a sigh.

Yuri grinned. "I didn't hurt you?"

Alice closed her eyes for a moment, reliving the intimate moment before answering. "Not too much."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I – I got carried away?" he said with a grin. "Was it good for you?" 

Alice chuckled softly, opening her arms to invite him into an embrace. "I love you, Yuri," she said into his hair as he settled into her arms, a goofy grin on his young face.

"I am good," he said, nuzzling her closely, nipping gently at her neck. 

"Don't push it, lover," Alice said with a smile, her voice breathy in his ears.

"Lover, hero, savior," he said as he offered up kisses. "Bow down to me for I am yer God," he added with a laugh.

Alice grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked hard.

"Whatyadothatfor?" he whined, trying to pull away unsuccessfully.

"You deserved it. Now, show me how good you truly are," Alice said, smiling an invitation to her husband.

'Oh yeah."

Endnote: For those interested, the wedding, slaughtered as it was by Yuri, was the 1892 ceremony from the Book of Common Prayer, USA edition. It is the basis upon which the modern wedding ceremony is built. You can check it out at: for the "other" scene, I know you wanted more, but there are rules to this house and I don't want to be booted out. You can always check adultfanfiction.net for more exotic faire; I'm there too (blush).


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